
Pass V \Z.,'Z^.. 
Book ■(^^■"fX.^ . 



V3- 







MEXICO 



UNDER 



MAXIMILIAN 



In 1 Vol. Price 7s. 6d. (Second Edition). 

THE SPAS OF GERMANY, BELGIUM, 
FRANCE, ITALY, AND SWITZERLAND. 

By THOMAS MOEE MADDEN, M.D., 

Physician to the Eotunda Hospital, Dublin, and Author of " Change 
of Climate," &e. 

" A work accurate and serviceable in all its important details. 
The chapter on the art of travel is a small volume in itself." — Morn' 
ing Post. 

"We cordially recommeftd tliis boot not only to the medical pro- 
fession, but to educiited persons of every calling."- Medical Press. 

" The great value of the book lies in the judicious directions given 
to invalids as to tlie use and abuse of the individual springs they are 
enjoined to visit."— T/te Warder, 

" Dr. Madden's ' Guide to the Spas' vpill find equal acceptance with 
medical and non-professional readers, as it supplies what has hitherto- 
been a serious want — namely, a complete manual on the subject of 
mineral waters." — Irish Times. 



In 3 Vols. Post 8vo. 

THE FORTUNES OF TOM HASWELL. 

A Novel. 

By MARY HAYMAN. 

Author of "The Spinsters of Sandham," &c. 



In 3 Vols. Price 31s. 6d. 

CLTJMBEE CHASE. 

A Novel. 

By GEOEGB GORDON SCOTT. 

** Unquestionably this novel will create no little interest. Dorothy 
Neville is a charming conception, and the characteristics of tender- 
ness and affection, combined with sprightliness of manner, high 
principle, and good judgment, with which she is invested, make up an 
excellent whole." — Morning Post. 

*' A thoroughly fresh, sparkling and singularly original work. 
The reading of Clumber Chase, after the stifling immoral atmosphere 
of the general run of modern novels, has been to us like a blow on 
the Moors, amid the fresh purple heather. We cannot conceive a 
pleasanter book, either in a yacht, or a country house." — Bell's Mes- 
senger. 

*'The most clever, brilliant and witty novel that has appeared for 
years." — Daily Guardian. 

" A novel of such healthy reality that it seems to take us quite out 
of the range of Fiction to the region of Biography. Mr. Scott's 
humour is rare, his wit brilliant, and his dialogue charming." — 
Brighton Examiner. 



In 2 Vols. Price 21s. 

STOLEN WATERS 

A Novel. 

By MES. MACKENZIE DANTEL. 

Author of " Caught in the Toils," &c., &c. 



MEXICO TODEU MAXIMILIAN. 



7 

J. J. KENDALL, 

Late Captain H.M. 44tli and 6tli EegimentSj 

AND SUBSEQUENTLY 

IN THE SEE VICE OF HIS LATE MAJESTY 
THE E M: P E K, O R OE M! E X I C O 




London : 

T. CAUTLEY NEWBY, PUBLISHEE, 

30, WELBECK STEEET, CAVENDISH SQUAEE. 

1871. 

[all rights beseeved.] 



•> • .^. 



^ 



^ 



DEDICATION 

(By Permission.) 



TO HIS SERENE HIGHNESS THE PEINCE OF 
TECK, G.C.B. 

Sir, 

Knowing the great friendsMt) formerly existing 
between Your Serene Higliness and my lamented master, tlie 
late Emperor Maximiliajst, the unfortunate circumstances 
attending the latter portion of whose life, I have in the fol- 
lowing pages endeavoured to describe, I venture most respect- 
fully to dedicate this volume to Tour Highness, as a slight 
token of my gratitude, for the many kindnesses I have 
received at Your Highness' hands. 

I have the honour to be. 
Sir, 
Your Highness' Obedient Servant, 

J. J. KENDALL. 



Junior United Service CMj, 1st November, 1871. 



MEXICO UNDEE MAIIMILIAN. 



CHAPTER I. 

It was on new year's day of the year 1865, that 
I and my wife embarked on board the steamer 
'^ Sierra Nevada," at San Francisco^ bound for the 
Mexican ports on the Pacific. We had arrived 
at San Francisco a week or two before, after 
a series of wanderings in the United States, 
and British North American possessions, and 
the rest at " The Occidental Hotel," at San 
Francisco, which is, by the way, one of the most 
comfortable in America, was very acceptable after 
so much travelling, and a couple of weeks were 
very agreeably spent in seeing the sights of the 
place. Among the latter may be noticed the two 
" seal-rocks," as they are called, situated on the 
sea coast, within a pleasant drive of the city. 



2 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

They are each about an acre in extent, forming 
two small islands half-a-mile from the mainland, 
and are completely covered with huge sea lions, 
whose heads and legs resemble those of the seal, 
but with bodies more like enormous oxen, covered 
with long hair of a yellowish-brown colour. They 
attain an immense size, one having been captured 
some years since which weighed over two tons. 
The noise which they make all day long, with 
their perpetual bark or roar is fearful ; but their 
constant gambols, both on the rocks and in the 
water, are very amusing. Their dominion is 
shared by myriads of pelicans and other sea fowl, 
but each party, as if by common consent, keeps 
scrupulously to its own portion of the rock. 
There is an excellent hotel exactly opposite, on 
the mainland, on the verandah of which, with 
a spy-glass in your hand, and a mint julep by 
your side, a beverage for which the house is 
justly celebrated, a very pleasant and amusing 
hour may be spent. 

The country round San Francisco is barren and 
arid in the extreme, consisting of a succession of 
small sand hills ; but the islands in the bay teem 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAIT. 3 

with luxuriant vegetation, supplying tlie city and 
its environs with the finest fruit and vegetables 
in the world, while the district on the banks of 
the Sacramento river is one continuous garden. 

On the breakfast table in San Francisco, may 
be seen, all the year round, a profusion of melons, 
pines, apples, pears, oranges, grapes, &c., the 
latter costing something less than threepence 
English per pound, while the apples, which can 
be had almost for nothing, often weigh upwards 
of two pounds each. 

The streets of the city are broad and clean, a 
great portion of which, including the footpaths, 
are laid with wooden planks. The churches, 
theatres, and other public buildings, are very 
good, and the shops in the main street might vie 
with those in our leading thoroughfares in Lon- 
don. The " Montgomery Block," which consists 
of shops, &c., and is built entirely of white 
marble, is the largest entire block of buildings 
in the United States. 

It was then, rather reluctantly, that we bid 
farewell to this wonderful city of only twenty- 
five years' growth, and with all our belongings, 

B 2 



4 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

took up our quarters on board the steamer 
" Sierra Nevada," which was the first ship to 
start, of a new line, that had just been formed to 
run along the Mexican coast, calling at all inter- 
mediate ports for cotton, and connecting with 
the Pacific Mail Co.'s ships at Acapulco, where 
the freights were to be transferred to the latter, 
and forwarded to Europe via the Isthmus of 
Panama. At twelve o'clock the bell rang for all 
who were not passengers to leave the ship, and a 
few minutes more saw us steaming out of the 
beautiful bay, which forms the harbour of San 
Francisco — past the " Golden Gate,'' and leaving 
the '^ Golden City " with all its pleasant attrac- 
tions fast disappearing in the distance. Our 
fellow-passengers consisted chiefly of second- 
rate Americans, emigrating to Mexico, and a few 
Juarist refugees who had lately received a par-' 
don from the Emperor Maximilian, and were re- 
turning to the city of Mexico, to take the oath of 
allegiance. By ^' Juarist refugees" I mean people 
who formerly belonged to the Republican, or 
as it was called. Liberal Government of Mexico, 
of which Juarez was president, before the arrival 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 6 

of the Emperor in the country, and who had of- 
fered an armed resistance to the Imperial and 
French troops, and being finally defeated, and 
dispersed, were compelled to fly the country. 

The Emperor Maximilian had been invited to 
Mexico by the vote of the representatives of the 
people, which vote was carried by the Conserva- 
tive or Church party, nicknamed the " Mochos," 
who had always been at deadly feud with the 
Liberals. We were accompanied by a friend, 
who was, like myself, a retired officer of Her 
Majesty's service — our mutual object in going to ^ 
Mexico being to offer our services to the Emperor. 
Among the Mexicans on board was General 
Cortes and his staff, the former having been 
lately very much feted in Washington, where the 
whole of the American General Grant's Army 
had been passed in review for his especial edifi- 
cation, and as our destinations were the same, I 
was anxious to cultivate his acquaintance, but 
my very limited knowledge at that time of Spanish, 
and his of English or French, made ' it rather 
difficult. 

Nothing worthy of notice occurred for the first 



6 MEXICO UNDEE MAXIMILIAN. 

few days of our voyage. We kept generally 
within sight of the coast, the weather being fine, 
and the heat daily increasing as we went south- 
ward. On the fourth day, we entered a little 
bay, at the end of which was situated a solitary 
"rancho'' or farm-house, occupied by an old 
Californian, who had lived there, I was told, for 
twenty-five years, without ever leaving his do- 
main. I believe our only business there was to 
deliver to him sundry boxes of liquor, and to re- 
ceive in return a quantity of cotton, and after a 
couple of hours had been thus occupied we con- 
tinued our course amidst a chorus of " Vaya 
Ustedes con Dios " — ^^ Go and God speed you," 
from his numerous Mexican dependents. 

On turning the angle of the bay a sight met 
our view, the beauty of which quite baffles 
description. We were in deep water, though 
close to the shore, which was bounded by high 
projecting rocks of a whitish grey colour, and of 
the most grotesque formations, the bases of which 
were intersected by every variety in form and 
size of caverns, arches, &c., presenting the ap- 
pearance of a monster grotto, while from the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. V 

extreme placidity of the water one could scarcely 
imagine, but for the help of the old proverb, 
" continual dropping weareth away a stone," 
how such beautiful ravages had been efiected. 
The water was so clear that though of an immense 
depth the bottom could be plainly discerned, and 
to add to the novelty of the scene, the surface of 
it was literally covered with every variety of sea 
fowl, undaunted by our presence, and sailing 
about in majestic security, from the large, sleepy 
looking pelican, with its enormous bill and huge 
pouch hanging beneath, to the little active diver, 
which seemed to possess the power of being in 
half a dozen different spots at the same time. 
For several hours, as we steamed along at half 
speed close to the shore, this delightful prospect 
continued, until we were obliged to alter our 
course and stand out to sea, to avoid a large 
promontory discernible in the distance. 

Our voyage continued without further incident 
until we reached Mazatlan, only varied by the 
increasing heat, and our proximity, or other- 
wise, to the coast, which assumed gradually a 
more barren and volcanic appearance. I subse- 



8 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

quently learnt, the whole country shows, at dif- 
ferent points, evident traces of volcanic action, 
to say nothing of the nnmher of extinct craters 
constantly met with. 

On reaching Mazatlan we found a squadron of 
French ships of war anchored at the mouth of 
the harbour, a small bay almost completely land 
locked, the entrance to which is very narrow, the 
whole resembling somewhat that of Balaklava. 
Having anchored, the majority of us prepared to 
go on shore, in one of the numerous Mexican 
boats in attendance, as the captain informed us 
that the ship would remain there till the following 
day. 

The boat landed us at a tolerable jetty, from 
which, through a dirty suburb, ^ye minutes' walk 
brought us to the town, and then to the principal 
hotel, an old fashioned and rather dirty esta- 
blishment, kept by a French-Californian lady, 
who had a big, lazy Mexican for her lord and 
master. Here we breakfasted off mutton chops, 
which had a strong flavour of goat, a meagre 
chicken, and the everlasting national Mexican 
dish " frijoles," or black beans, first boiled. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 9 

afterwards fried in lard, and seasoned with garlic 
and other condiments; after which we sallied 
forth to see the town. Being at the time in a 
state of siege it presented rather a dull and 
forlorn appearance; but the streets were broad 
and clean, and the houses substantial and hand- 
some for a Mexican town, showing evident traces 
of their first owners, the Spaniards ; indeed, a 
large number of the principal merchants and 
shopkeepers of the place belong still to that race. 
A very short walk brought us to the line of forti- 
fications that had been hastily thrown up for the 
defence of the place against the Liberal troops, 
who, to the number of five thousand men, were 
investing it from the land side. 

The defences consisted of a hastily thrown up 
parapet of earthwork of considerable height, with 
a deep ditch at the outer base on the north, east, 
and south sides, in front of which were placed at 
intervals very formidable looking abattis, con- 
structed of prickly pear trees and other species of 
cactus ; while one or two batteries of heavy guns 
were posted in^commanding positions, including 
three^large-sized cannonades, which swept the 

B 5 



10 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

main road into the interior, and a bridge, over 
which it passed, about ^Ye hundred yards from 
the city gates. An outlying picquet was posted 
in a cotton field beyond the lines, whence a good 
view of the surrounding country could be obtained, 
the sentinels from this outpost connecting with 
those on the ramparts. 

The garrison consisted of a battalion of Turcos, 
which are troops raised by the French in the 
African settlements, the men being principally 
quite black. They are fine, swarthy looking 
fellows, and in their Zouave dress present a very 
martial appearance ; they are, however, usually a 
pack of incarnate devik, and sie celebrated for 
their acts of lawless plunder and rapine in times 
of war ; they fight like tigers, though their dis- 
cipline is very lax, as they utterly refuse to obey 
anyone but their own regimental officers, and, if 
checked too much, are sometimes insubordinate 
even to them. They were a source of constant 
terror to the Mexicans, who would at any time 
have preferred fighting double their number of 
white men. Stationed here were also a regiment 
of Mexican infantry and a few hastily raised 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 11 

levies of native cavalry, called the "^ Guardia 
Kural," a kind of Yeomanry, than whom a more 
wretched looking squad I never beheld. I do not 
think there was a horse among them worth 
twenty- five dollars ; they appeared to greater dis- 
advantage than they otherwise would have, by 
contrast with the two well-mounted and equipped 
troops of Chasseurs d'Afrique, who were parading 
at the same time. 

In the evening we were much struck with the 
pretty effect produced by the ladies of the place, 
who, dressed in gay coloured muslins, with their 
*^ rebosos'' thrown gracefully over their heads and 
shoulders, were sitting in the verandahs or on the 
house-tops, smoking cigarettes, chatting, and en- 
joying the evening breeze. 

The reboso, the national head dress of the 
women of Mexico, is a long scarf of linen, gene- 
rally a mixture of black and white, and is an in- 
dispensable article of dress to all ranks and 
ages. The little damsel of three years old would 
not think of putting her head out of doors with- 
out rapidly and gracefully donning her reboso, 
which is accomplished by throwing it on the back 



12 MEXICO UNDEE MAXIMILIAN. 

of the head, hanging over the shoulders, one end 
being allowed to hang down in front, and the 
other thrown back over the left shoulder ; at the 
approach of a stranger, by an almost impercept- 
able movement, it is drawn more closely, ob- 
scuring the lower portion of the face, leaving only 
the brilliant dark eyes visible. 

The evening occupation of the ladies, *' smok- 
ing," may perhaps astonish some of my English 
readers ; but that habit is as common with the 
ladies in Mexico as with the men, from the 
highly-born matron or fashionable young belle in 
her teens to the old hag in the streets, or the little 
beggar girl sitting on the doorstep. A small bag 
of finely cut tobacco, together with a little book 
of cigarette paper, is usually carried in the pocket, 
which they very skilfully roll up between their 
fingers into cigarettes, which, after lighting, they 
hold gracefully between the forefinger and thumb, 
taking occasional whiffs until consumed. 

On the conclusion of a meal, even before the 
cloth is removed, there will probably be no one at 
the table who is not thus occupied. Mexicans do 
not, however, indulge in the practice so common 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 13 

among the gentlemen of their neighbours the 
Yankees, I mean, expectoration, which filthy- 
habit is quite unknown with them. Should a 
gentleman find himself kissing the pretty little 
hand of a Mexican beauty he would find that the 
tips of the forefinger and thumb were as brown 
as berries, caused by perpetual contact with 
tobacco juice, which oozes through the paper of 
the cigarettes. 

A night, spent principally in doing battle with 
the mosquitoes, was succeeded by a splendid 
morning, which, after an early cup of chocolate, 
the usual matutinal beverage of the Mexicans, I 
devoted to another walk round the lines, and was 
rewarded by witnessing the arrival of a battalion 
of Zouaves which had been daily expected from 
the interior, and had marched unmolested 
through a tract of country held by five thousand 
of the enemy, who, though they made their 
presence known by a hundred petty annoyances, 
such as keeping provisions out of the town, and 
firing from the bush at sentinels, still seldom 
showed themselves, and the garrison, before the 



14 MEXICO mTDER MAXIMILIAN. 

arrival of the Zouaves, had been too weak to sally 
forth in quest of them. 

On this very morning a couple of peasants who 
had endeavoured to enter the town with five 
donkeys, laden with charcoal, were discovered by 
a French sentry at daybreak hung, in company 
with their donkeys, exactly in front of his post, 
no doubt the work of some scouting party of the 
enemy who had intercepted them. 

At twelve o'clock we bid adieu to the town of 
Mazatlan, and returned on board, our party 
being increased by one or two fresh passengers, 
among whom was an old American gentleman, 
escorting a young lady, the niece of the British 
Consul at Tepic, to which place they were pro- 
ceeding, and we subsequently travelled there 
together, an arrangement that (to us at least) 
proved very agreeable. 

Our captain was a very amusing companion, and 
would spin many a long yarn over our evening 
cigars ; but his great hobby was the war then 
going on with, what he termed, the rebel states. 
He was a staunch Union man, and I have seldom 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 15 " 

met with one who equalled him ia bitter hatred 
towards the South. I will not attempt to weary 
my readers, as he did me sometimes, with the 
hundred and one arguments which he employed 
to convince me that hanging was much too good 
for any Confederate, from Jeff. Davis down to the 
smallest drummer boy. 

Whatever I might offer in their favour, was 
always silenced by his final, and as he considered 
it, clenching argument, '^ We're bound to whip 
'em, sir; this is an almighty nation, and God 
knows it, and takes care of his own. If they 
bring a hundred thousand men, we'll bring five, 
and if England tries to interfere, we can throw a 
column of men into Canada that would create a 
famine in a week. We're bound to whip 'em, 
sir ! Yes, Siree ! " 

Two more days brought us to San Bias, which 
was to be our port of disembarkation, and about six 
o'clock on the morning of the 12th of January, 
the anchor was dropped in the roads of that most 
wretched of all the ports of Mexico. French men- 
of-war were at anchor here likewise. It is a place 
of little or no importance, though the nearest 



16 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

point on the Pacific to the principal cities in the 
interior, except Acapulco, which was then un- 
approachable by land, being, like Mazatlan, in a 
state of siege by the Liberals. 

It now appeared that the really serious part of 
our journey was about to commence, and I was 
not without considerable anxiety at the prospect 
of taking my wife through upwards of nine hun- 
dred miles of a country overrun by contending 
factions, and their lawless troops, and the high- 
ways of which were infested with innumerable 
bands of guerillas. 

All was now hurry and confusion, shore boats 
had already arrived, and as the steamer was only 
going to remain afewhours, the passengers, most 
of whom were going to leave the ship here, were 
all hastening to collect their effects and get on 
shore. Our friend very kindly volunteered to 
precede us, in the first boat, and take rooms at the 
hotely alas ! for our unsophisticated ignorance ; 
and after a great deal of trouble with a drunken 
purser's clerk, who wanted to make me pay twice 
over for our baggage, and who received a severe 
reprimand from the captain, who arrived on board 



MEXICO UNDER MA XIMILIAN. 17 

most opportunely, after landing the mails, and 
from whom we had always received the greatest 
kindness and attention, at about nine o'clock we 
entered one of the numerous boats in waiting, 
and started for the scenes of our future adven- 
tures. 

The impressions produced by a further intro- 
duction to the land of Montezuma I will reserve 
for another chapter. 



18 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 



CHAPTER II. 

For the guidance of my readers who have not 
followed the late Mexican war in all its details, 
and are not perhaps distinctly aware of the causes 
which first brought it about, it may not be amiss 
for me to give a short epitome, both of its origin, 
of the expedition from the commencement, the 
founding of the Empire, and of the military 
situation of the country, at the time of which I 
am speaking. These facts I have collected with 
great care, from the best authenticated accounts 
written at the time. 

The first diplomatic trace of the thought of 
intervention in Mexico, originated in Spain. 
France and England had long been endeavouring 
to obtain redress, for wrongs inflicted by the 
Mexican authorities on several of their subjects, 
as well as the adjustment of certain pecuniary 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 19 

claims, but hitherto all negotiations had been 
unsuccessfal. 

Spain, however, had not yet lost the hope of 
re-entering into possession of her American colo- 
nies, and trusted by means of European interven- 
tion, to re-establish a throne in Mexico, and cause 
it to be occupied by a Prince of the house of 
Bourbon. 

On the 24th of November, 1858, Mr. Mon, 
then Spanish Ambassador to France, represented 
to Count Walewsky, " the necessity of establish- 
ing a strong power and government in these 
countries." 

On the 3rd of January, 1859, Mr. Mon wrote 
to Mr. Calderon Collantes, minister of foreign 
affairs in Spain — *^ My idea, which I have not 
been so fortunate as to enable your Excellency 
to understand, reduced itself to examining 
whether it would be possible to form a govern- 
ment in Mexico which, supported at the outset 
by the three powers, would end by having no 
need of any. Will your Excellency indicate to 
me, if possible, the form, as well as the means, 
which appear to you suitable to be made use of 



20 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN, 

under such circumstances ? Count Walewski and 
myself have left the question at this point, in 
order to be able to resume it when we think fit." 

Seven days later Mr. Calderon Collantes re- 
plied that he shared Mr. Mon's views, but that 
according to him ^' Moral and purely diplomatic 
means were sufficient." On the 18th of April, 
1860, Mr. Calderon Collantes wrote to Mr. Mon 
as follows : — 

"Your Excellency is aware of the attempt 
made several times by Her Majesty's Govern- 
ment with regard to those of England and 
France, with a view to adopting a measure to 
put an end to the anarchy which exists in the 
Mexican Eepublic. 

'^Some time ago I had with M. Barrot 
(French ambassador to this Court) a conference 
upon this serious affair. M. Barrot transmitted 
my indications to the Emperor's minister of 
foreign affairs, and a few days ago he read me 
an extract from one of his dispatches, in which it 
is shown that the Governments of France and 
England are now disposed to combine their 
efforts in order to obtain the establishment of a 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 21 

government in Mexico which will be recognised 
by the entire nation, and will put an end to the 
sad situation in which this unhappy Republic has 
found itself for so many years past. M, 
Thouvenal thinks that the best means would be 
to propose the convocation of a constituent as- 
sembly, which should determine the form of gov- 
ernment in a stable and definite manner, and 
solve all the pending questions, whatever their 
nature and importance. Her Majesty's will is 
then, that your Excellency should have an in- 
terview with M. Thouvenal, with a view to 
seeking the means for the three respective 
powers of intervening in the disorder of the 
Mexican Eepublic. The Government of Her 
Majesty thinks that the mere news of this reso- 
lution and the first measures taken to bring it to 
a good end will suffice to give courage to honour- 
able persons in Mexico, and predispose minds to 
labour in favour of the establishment of a gov- 
ernment, which, without limiting the exercise of 
legitimate rights or the guarantee which they 
have in civilized countries, will for ever enchain 



22 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

that spirit of rebellion which has caused so much 
damage in this unfortunate country." 

Thanks to the favourable reception given to 
the Spanish propositions by France and Ens^land, 
Mr. Calderon CoUantes thought fit to risk a pro- 
ject of constitution for the re-organization of 
Mexico, which he sent to Paris and London on 
the 24th of May, 1860. This was going to work 
too fast, and England stopped him forthwith, 
having no intention of being used as a cat's- 
paw by the Catholic powers. 

Mr. Isturitz, minister from Spain to London, 
wrote on the 27th of April, 1860, to Mr. 
Calderon CoUantes — 

" In effect, on the 27th of April, 1860, Lord 
John Russell, warned as to the co-operation that 
England might give, replied, laconically, to me 
that he did not repel it, provided that it was 
thoroughly understood that the use of force 
should not enter into the execution of these pro- 
jects. In a second interview I insisted, in order 
to obtain a more explicit answer from Lord John 
Russell, the Secretary of State explained, that 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. . 23 

on its part England will exact the protection of 
the Protestant faith, to which I replied that in 
that case England must not rely upon the co- 
operation of Spain." 

M. Barrot, minister from France to Spain, 
was at the same time charged to transmit to Mr. 
Calderon Collantes, in the name of his Govern- 
ment, the following : — 

" It is, besides, understood," said the dispatch, 
" that the measures in question shall have an 
entirely friendly character, and that they shall 
exclude the idea of recourse to any means of 
material coercion." 

Thus ended the first period of the Mexican 
question. It was to be set aside till the 1st of 
September, 1861. 

Spain, meanwhile, in nowise discouraged by 
the refusal of England and France to aid her 
enterprise, had pursued its execution alone, 
through the intervention of the Captain General 
of the Island of Cuba. A year later, when she 
was ready to act, she again put the Mexican 
question upon the diplomatic carpet. Mr. Mon, 
alluding to the approaching secession of the 



24 ^ MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Southern States of America, wrote to Mr. Cal- 
deron CoUantes : — 

^' The Government cannot conceal that this 
may be an occasion for reviving past souvenirs, 
and placing upon the throne of Mexico a prince 
of the Bourbon blood, more or less intimately 
united to this house." 

This was the last word of Spanish political 
thought, and which was destined to remove all 
scruples from Louis Napoleon's mind, and to 
bring about the retreat of Spain at the outset of 
hostilities. 

On the 6th of September, 1861, Mr. Mon 
received orders to announce to M. Thouvenal, 
that a Spanish fleet was ready to set sail, to 
operate against Mexico, and the Captain General 
of the Island of Cuba received orders to that 
effect. It would have been difficult, it must be 
confessed, to have acted with more resolution 
and skill, and if her strength had been equal to 
her will, Spain, without doubt, would have 
brought her plan to a good issue. Napoleon, it 
may be, terrified at the thought of any Bourbon 
restoration whatever, even at three thousand 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 25 

leagues from France, no longer hesitated. He 
intervened at once, and persuaded England to do 
the same. A month later, on the 11th of Octo- 
ber, 1861, M. Thouvenal wrote to M. de Fla- 
hault in London : — 

'^ I have replied to the English Ambassador, 
that I was entirely in harmony with his Govern- 
ment as to one point, that I admit, like Lord 
Russell, that the legitimacy of our coercive action 
with regard to Mexico would only result from our 
griefs against the Government of that country, 
and that those griefs, as well as the means of 
redressing them, and preventing their renewal, 
could alone, in effect, be the object of an osten- 
sible convention. But it appeared to me useless 
to go beyond, and interfere in advance with the 
ultimate exercise of a legitimate participation in 
the events of which our operations might be the 
origin. 

" It is permissible to suppose, in effect^ that 
if the issue of the American crisis consecrated 
the separation of the North and South, the two 
new confederations would both seek for such 
compensation as the territory of Mexico, given 





26 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

up to social dissolution, would offer to their com- 
petition. Such an event could not be indifferent 
to England, and the principal obstacle which 
might, according to us, prevent its accomplish- 
ment, would be the constituting a reparative 
Government in Mexico strong enough to check 
its internal dissolution." 

On the 27th of July, 1861, M. de Saligny, the 
French Minister at Mexico, officially announced 
to his Government that, in accordance with Mr. 
Charles Wyke, the English Minister to the same 
power, he had broken off diplomatic relations 
with the Government of Juarez. M. Thouvenal 
approved of his conduct, and on the 5th of 
September (the evening of the day on which 
Mr. Mon had officially notified him of the sending 
of a Spanish fleet to operate against Mexico), the 
French minister thus summed up M. de Saligny's 
instructions : — 

" The Emperor's Government entirely ap- 
proves of your conduct, and protests in the most 
formal manner against that of the Government 
of Juarez. 

" It is important that the latter Government 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 27 

should not ignore the impression of the Em- 
peror's Government, and that it should be 
edified as to what we should exact from it. You 
are, then, to declare, that the suspension of 
the payment of foreign conventions, let it be 
covered with whatever pretext it may, is, on our 
part, the object of the most lively disapprobation ; 
and that we demand the immediate repeal of the 
law of the 17th of July last. You will add, that 
we claim the establishment of Commissaries in 
the ports of Vera Cruz and Tampico, whom we 
shall point out, and whose mission will be to 
secure the payment to the powers who have a 
right to it, of the funds which are to be raised 
to their profit, in execution of foreign conven- 
tions, upon the product of the Maritime Custom 
Houses of Mexico. Tf the Mexican Government 
refuses to accept these conditions, you are called 
upon, sir, to quit Mexico without delay, with all 
the persons who compose His Majesty's Lega- 
tion." 

This was tantamount to a declaration of war, 
and the intervention was accordingly resolved 
upon. On the 30th of October, 1861, M. Thou- 

2 



28 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

venal announced it in these terms to M. Dubois 
de Saligny: — 

'^ The Emperor has decided that a naval divi- 
sion be placed under the command of Bear Ad- 
miral Jurien de la Graviere, who shall receive 
the mission to repair to the Gulf of Mexico, to 
obtain the satisfaction which, after a final examin- 
ation of the situation, appears to be exacted bj 
regard for our dignity, and for the violence, of 
all kinds, to which our nation is subjected. The 
Emperor's Government will not act alone. The 
Government of Her British Majesty and that of 
Her Catholic Majesty, propose to unite their 
forces to those with which we intend to make 
this expedition." 

This is the first time that, in a dispatch, M. 
Thouvenal revealed the existence of a convention 
between France, Spain, and England, which was 
to be signed on the morrow, the terms of which 
Mr. Calderon Collantes discussed with Mr. Mon 
in a dispatch dated the 23rd, and which had been 
the object of diplomatic correspondence for 
nearly two years. 

On the 21st of October, 1861, the convention 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 29 

was signed between France, England, and Spain, 
which ran thus : — 

"Art. 1. — The commander of the allied forces 
shall be authorised to accomplish, upon the most 
suitable spots, all other operations which shall 
be judged proper for the realization of the aim 
proposed in the preamble of the present conven- 
tions, and especially to guarantee the security of 
foreign residents. 

" Art. 2. — The high parties contracting agree 
not to seek for themselves, in the use of the 
coercive measures foreseen by the present con- 
vention, any acquisition of territory, nor any 
particular advantage, and to exercise in the in- 
ternal affairs of Mexico no influence of a nature 
to injure the right of the Mexican nation to 
freely choose and constitute the form of its 
government." 

Meanwhile Calderon CoUantes addressed in- 
structions to the Captain General of the Island 
of Cuba. They are summed up in three points : — 

First. — Personal satisfaction for the dismissal 
of the Spanish Minister. 



30 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Second. — The execution of the treaty signed 
at Paris between Men and Almonti. 

Third. — The indemnification stipulated. 

M. Thouvenal had also sent his dispatches to 
Admiral Jurien de la Graviere, on the 11th of 
November, 1861 : — 

" When the combined forces of the three 
powers shall have arrived upon the eastern shore 
of Mexico, you will, as I have said, claim the 
delivery into your hands of the ports of that 
shore. After taking this step two alternatives 
may present themselves : either your summons 
will be resisted, and then your remaining course 
will be, to concert, without delay, with the com- 
manders of the allied forces, for the capture of 
those ports by force; or the local authorities 
will renounce opposing a material resistance, 
but the Mexican Government will refuse to enter 
into relations with you. 

" Eesuming a tactic employed by one of his 
predecessors in the war with the United States, 
Juarez will, if necessary, retire into the interior 
of the country. The Allied Powers could not 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 31 

suffer themselves to be held in check by such an 
expedient. The interest of our dignity, and a 
consideration for the circumstances of the climate 
on the eastern shore, unite to exact a prompt re- 
sult. The Emperor's Government admit that, 
either to reach the Mexican Government, or to 
render more efficacious the coercion exercised 
upon it by the taking possession of its ports, you 
will find yourself in the necessity of combining a 
march into the interior of the country, which 
would, if necessary, lead the allied forces to 
Mexico itself. 

" The Allied Powers only profess, I have told 
you, the aim indicated in the convention ; they 
interdict themselves from intervening in the in- 
ternal affairs of the country, and especially from 
exercising any pressure upon the will of the 
people in the choice of their government. There 
are, however, certain circumstances which our 
foresight is called upon to provide for, and which 
we have been called upon to examine. It might 
happen that the presence of the allied forces 
upon the territory of Mexico would determine 
the healthy part of the population, tired of 



32 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

anarchy, eager for order and repose, to make an 
effort to constitute a government in the country, 
offering the guarantees of strength and stability, 
which have failed to exist in all those which have 
succeeded each other since the emancipation. 
The Allied Powers have a common interest — a 
manifest interest in seeing Mexico emerge from 
the state of social dissolution in w^hich it is 
plunged, which paralyses all development of its 
prosperity, annuls for it and the rest of the world 
all the riches with which Providence has en- 
dowed its privileged soil, and obliges the Allied 
Powers to have periodical recourse to costly ex- 
peditions to recall the duties of ephemeral and 
unreasonable governments. This interest should 
lead them not to discourage attempts of the 
nature of that which I have just indicated to you, 
and you should not refuse them encouragement 
and moral support, if, through the position of 
men who w^ould take the initiative, and through 
the sympathy that they would meet with from 
the mass of the population, you saw a chance of 
success for establishing an order of things of a 
nature to secure the interests of the foreign resi- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 33 

dents ; that protection to and those guarantees 
which have failed them until now. The Em- 
peror's Government relies upon your prudence 
and discernment to judge in concert with His 
Majesty's Commissary, whose knowledge, ac- 
quired in his sojourn in Mexico, will be precious 
to you during the events which may develop 
themselves under your eyes, and aid you to deter- 
mine the measure in which you may be called 
upon to take part in them." 

It is evident that at this time the idea of the 
Archduke Maximilian occupying the throne of 
Mexico was entertained, though the French dis- 
claimed the intention of forcing any government 
upon the country, but professed to desire to aid 
by their moral support whatever form of govern- 
ment the majority of the people should select, 
and which promised the fulfilment of the objects 
of the intervention. This will be seen from the 
following : — Rumours had reached the ears of 
Lord Cowley, the British Ambassador at Paris, 
that the officers of the expedition about to start 
for Mexico stated publicly, in the cafes, that 
they were going to raise a throne for the Arch- 

c 5 



34: MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

duke Maximilian, in Mexico, and on the 24th of 
January, 1862, he wrote to Lord John Russell 
on the subject as follows : — 

" I have heard it said, in so many directions, 
that the officers who are going to Mexico with 
reinforcements declare that they are going there 
with the aim of placing Archduke Maximilian 
upon the throne, that I have thought it necessary 
to question M. Thouvenal on the subject. I have 
asked him whether negociations were pending 
between France and Austria with regard to the 
Archduke Maximilian. His Excellency replied 
in the negative, and said that the negociations 
had been opened by the Mexicans alone, who had 
come to Vienna with this aim." 

A quotation from a speech of M. Brillant, then 
'^ Minister de la Parole," in the name of the 
Government, in reply to M. Jules Favre of the 
Opposition, seems, as far as words go, to indicate 
the intention of the French Cabinet. 

" The principle which we proclaim, — the prin- 
ciple which is the basis of our public right, 
the independence of the people's vote, and of 
national sovereignty, is one that we shall not go 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 35 

to Mexico to violate, but we will leave those un- 
fortunate populations perfectly free, pressed upon 
as they are, by the Governments which you 
praise, and which have never been able to give 
them any of those benefits, any of the securities, 
which form the rights of civilized society. If 
they wish to continue this miserable existence, we 
do not impose a better lot upon them ; but if they 
wish a better lot for themselves. Oh! then we 
shall encourage them with all our sympathy, 
counsel, and moral support. 

"Such, Gentlemen, is the situation very clearly 
set forth, and, as for the rumours which the 
honourable speaker opposite said, ' gave umbrage 
to Her British Majesty,' permit me to pass them 
by— officers about departing have said that they 
were going to Mexico to place a foreign prince 
upon the throne. 

" What ? do you imagine that this great secret 
of diplomacy, if it have existed, could have been 
thus given up to the first officer that came in the 
way, as he was setting out for America ? 

" This cannot be serious." 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 



CHAPTER III. 

It was on the 5tli of January, 1862, that the first 
vessels of the united fleets of France, England, 
and Spain appeared upon the Mexican Coast. 

Spain had taken the first step. Its impatience 
could not wait, and, in its desire to hurry events 
forward, it had not shrunk from wounding the 
susceptibility of its allies by taking precedence ; 
but excuses and explanations through diplomatic 
agency at length calmed the two parties offended. 

The Spanish landing corps numbered 7,000 
men, under the command of General Prim ; that 
of France 2,500 men, under Admiral Jurien de 
la Graviere. England had only furnished 700 
men. 

The Fort of San Juan de Ulloa was evacuated 
w^ithout being defended, and with it the city of 
Vera Cruz fell into the hands of the allies. 

Here a series of negociations commenced be- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 37 

tween the plenipotentiaries and the Government 
of Juarez, which ended in the convention of 
*' Soledad/' signed on the 19th of February, 
1862. 

This convention, signed in the name of France, 
by M. Dubois de Saligny and Admiral Jurien de 
la Graviere, was as follows : — 

'^ i^rt. 1. — The Constitutioual Government, 
which is now in power in the Mexican Kepublic, 
having informed the Commissaries of the allied 
powers that it does not need the assistance offered 
with so much benevolence by them to the Mexican 
people, because the nation contains within itself 
sufficient elements of strength to preserve itself 
from all internal revolt, the allies will have re- 
course to treaties to present all the reclamations 
that they are charged to make in the names of 
their respective nations. 

^^ Art. 2. — With this view, the representatives 
of the allied powers/protesting that they have no 
intention of injuring the sovereignty and in- 
tegrity of the Mexican Republic, negociations 
will be opened at Orizava. 

*^ Art. 3. — It is stipulated that the allied 



38 MEXICO UNDER 

forces shall have the right to occupy the cities of 
Cordova, Orizava, and Tehuacan, in order to be 
free from the deleterious influences of Vera Cruz 
and its environs." 

Differences, however, of a serious nature soon 
took place between the representatives of the allied 
powers, and the fixed determination of the French 
to go to the capital completed the breaking off 
of the convention of the 31st of October. This 
rupture took place on the 9th of April. In that 
day's session, M. de Saligny^ the French envoy, 
insisted that they should march on Mexico ; while 
those of Spain and England objected " that no 
act was of a nature to justify this resolution." 

This drew upon General Prim, from M. de 
Saligny, the accusation of having wished to work 
for his own profit, and of coveting the Mexican 
crown. -- 

At the conclusion of this session England and 
Spain resolved to treat separately with Juarez, 
which they did at Puebla, and, their demands 
being satisfied, they soon afterwards withdrew 
their forces from the country. 

On the 1st of May General Laurencez, with 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 39 

three thousand French troops, directed himself 
towards Puebla, and on the 5th arrived at the 
Monastery of Guadaloape, where, instead of 
finding open gates and a hearty welcome, as he 
had been led to expect by the representations of 
M. de Saligny, he ^as received with a shower of 
grape and a most stubborn resistance, which with 
his small force he failed to overcome. This check 
could not remain unavenged, so General Forey 
was sent with reinforcements to replace Laurencez^ 
who was beaten, deceived, and removed from his 
command. The former embarked at Cherbourg 
on the 30th of July. The effective of the troops 
under his command amounted to twenty thousand 
men, and on the 15th of February, 1863, after 
having divided his army into three columns, he 
directed himself towards Puebla, which he 
attacked on the 18th of March, and captured on 
the 18th of May. On the 10th of June, he made 
his entrance into Mexico. 

Soon after this a "Junta," or council of notables, 
took place in the city of Mexico, promoted to a 
great extent by General Almonte, who with 
Generals Miramon and Marquez constituted the 



40 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

chiefs of the Conservative, or Church party. 
Juarez, the President of the Eepublic, who had 
been brought into power by the Liberals, had, on 
hearing of the advance of the French troops from 
Orizava, fled to the North, and his Cabinet was, 
of course, broken up ; thence, until the occupation 
of the capital by the French, there had been no 
existing government. General Almonte had for 
some time past been in negociation with the 
Cabinet of the Tuilleries on the subject of inter- 
vention, and had made propositions relative to 
the founding of a monarchy in his native country 
to more than one European prince. 

The '^ Junta," after long deliberation, decided 
that the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, if 
supported by the French Government, would be 
a fitting prince to secure the happiness of the 
country, and resolved to send to Miramar a depu- 
tation, charged with offering him the crown 
definitely and officially. 

No doubt the presence of the French Com- 
mander-in-Chief conduced in no small degree to 
secure this decision. As, however, Maximilian 
would only accept a crown with the people's 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 41 

sanction, a vote of the latter took place, and on 
the 10th of April, 1864, in consequence of the 
favourable result of this movement, the Mexican 
Imperial throne was raised in favour of the 
Archduke Maximilian, who four days afterwards 
left Miramarfor Vera Cruz. 

The taking of the capital had put the French 
army in possession of the central zone of Mexico, 
whose great axis extends from it to Vera Cruz, 
passing by Puebla. All roads radiating from 
the centre to the circumference start in the 
northern region from the capital, and in the 
southern region from Vera Cruz. Juarez and his 
generals occupied the heads of these roads, and 
it was in order to disperse them that five columns 
immediately set themselves in motion. Vera 
Cruz, Puebla, and Mexico were chosen as bases 
of operation. The first of these places was left 
to the Imperial Mexicans and Turcos, the second 
was confided to Colonel Jeanningros, and the 
third to General Meger. The most important 
columns directed themselves towards the north, 
one to the east, under General Duay's command, 
and the other to the west, under that of General 



42 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

(afterwards Marshal) Bazains. The first 
of these generals made himself master of 
Queretaro, and the second of Morelia, then both 
effected a junction at Guanajuato, whence, rein- 
forced by the Mexican troops of Mir am on, they 
continued their march towards San Luis Potosi 
and Durango. It is unnecessary to follow these 
columns in all the details of a skirmishing war, 
against an enemy whose troops were without 
organization, discipline, or energy, who always 
fled instead of fighting, and who could not resist 
successfully when having the advantage of ten 
against one. There were exceptions, but they 
were few, and the French General-in-Chief was 
not long in announcing that five provinces en- 
joyed perfect tranquillity. 

Such was the situation on the 12th of June, 
when the new Emperor made his entry into the 
capital. Nevertheless, in spite of tranquillity 
having been loudly proclaimed the French easily 
repeating their victories. At Guanajuato on the 
27th of June, at Titacuaro on the 2nd of July, 
they beat the Liberal troops. 

On the 5th of July, Commander Marshall em- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 43 

barked at Vera Cruz, at tlie head of 600 men, 
and landed at Alvarado on the morrow, for the 
purpose of attacking General Garcia, who had 
established himself in an intrenched camp in the 
gorge of Cornejo, and was protected by four 
little forts. On the same evening the camp, 
forts, baggage, munitions, &c., were all in Com- 
mander Marshall's power, and two days later he 
took the city of Tlacotalpan. On the 1st of 
August, Colonel Tourre forced the passage of 
Cantabria, and occupied Huajutla. On the 
10th of August the Liberal General P or rio 
Diaz assumed the offensive in his turn, and at- 
tacked Colonel Giraud, but he was powerless 
against the French organization, and retired, los- 
ing four cannon and seven hundred men. On 
the 9th of August, Colonel Clinchant had beaten 
General Neri, near Tulot, and made General 
Echeverria prisoner. 

Meanwhile, Uraga had deserted the Liberal 
cause to submit himself to the Emperor, and 
Vidaurri had followed his example. 

On the night of the 24th of August Cortinas 
arrived at Matamoras, and Mejia at the head of 



44 MEXrCO UKDER MAXIMILIAN. 

four thousand men, after having made his junc- 
tion with Colonel Dupin's contra-guerilla force, 
advanced to drive him thence. General Casta- 
guay, at the same time, marched upon Monterey^ 
the capital of Nuevo Leon, at the head of a very 
strong column. He arrived there on the 26th of 
August, and took possession of the city without a 
contest, finding fifty pieces of artillery there. 

In spite of these repeated victories and various 
successes, — in spite of the salutary terror inspired 
by the contra-guerillas, we read in the Mexican 
papers that a stage-coach was stopped at a league 
and a half from Mexico the day before, and that 
a day before that it was stopped at two leagues 
distance. The French engineers employed upon 
the Yera Cruz Eailroad, at the same time wrote — 

" It is sad not to be able to go forty paces 
from the works without an escort, or running the 
risk of being robbed or captured." 

On his part the Emperor treated with the 
Transatlantic Company for the transportation of 
seven thousand Austrians, and several thousand 
Belgians for the immediate protection of his per- 
son. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 45 

It would be beyond the purpose of this nar- 
rative, in resuming the recital of military events, 
to do more than briefly indicate the results at- 
tained. General Castaguay, having seized Mon- 
terey, his operations were now mainly directed 
against Juarez, who had concentrated in the 
state of Durango, the troops of Negrete, Ortega, 
and Doblado. Success still rested with the 
French, the Mexicans being frequently badly 
routed by greatly inferior forces. Juarez fled 
with only a few cavalry men, Patoni was 
isolated from supports, and Ortega could not 
even retain his staff. Meanwhile, Mejia entered 
Matamoras without the garrison striking a 
blow. Cortinas submitted himself to the Empire, 
and publicly fraternized with Mejia. Canales 
alone refused to submit. He crossed the Eio 
Grande with four hundred men, and was imme- 
diately disarmed by Colonel Ford, on the part of 
the United States Government. Zuloga, the 
former President of the Mexican Kepublic; Gene- 
ral Gorza, the former Governor of Tamaulipas . 
General Batarde, once the Emperor Iturbide's 
aide-de-camp, Yidaurri, the former Governor of 



46 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Nuevo Leon ; and Quiroga, his lieutenant, came 
to submit themselves to the Emperor, upon whom 
all seemed to smile, and who, meanwhile, was 
journeying on a tour of inspection, amidst the 
acclamations of the population. 

The Liberals still held certain small tracts of 
country, chiefly near the Pacific coast, all the sea- 
ports of which, however, were in possession of 
the Imperial troops ; in other parts of the country, 
the Liberal strongholds consisted, almost entirely, 
of forests and mountains. Such was the situa- 
tion of the country at the time I first entered it. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIBIILIAN. 47 



CHAPTEfl IV. 

On Hearing the shore, nothing was perceptible 
but a long, low line of sand, on which were dotted 
a number of black figures, evidently awaiting our 
arrival. No houses or even trees were visible, 
and we might have been approaching the great 
desert, to all appearance. Scarcely had the boat 
touched the beach, when about fifty of the black 
figures referred to swooped down upon us, each 
possessing himself of some portion of our lug- 
gage, and scampering off with it up the beach, 
with me in full pursuit. We were met in a few 

minutes by our friend G , in company with a 

German merchant of the place, to whom we had 
letters of introduction, and who informed me that 
the abductors of our effects were custom-house officers 
and their assistants, and that they were only taking 
them for examination. Before my wife had hardly 
set her foot on shore, she narrowly escaped 



48 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

stepping upon a small snake, of very beautiful 
appearance, which was instantly killed by one of 
the boatmen, with the comforting assurance that 
they were very plentiful, and that their sting was 
certain death ; no doubt it is very venomous, but 
the certain death was probably a little exaggera- 
tion on our friend's part, in hopes of obtaining a 
large reward for so opportunely slaying ifc. 

On reaching the town^ we found nothing but a 
collection of miserable Indian huts, the only build- 
ings worthy the name of houses being a low stone 
structure, called the "Aduana," or custom-house, 
and the residences of two small foreign merchants, 
one of whom was our friend. 

There was a kind of" meson," or inn, to which 
we repaired, but it consisted only of a small yard 
well sheltered with large trees, in which was a 
long, thatched hut, containing about six rooms, 
which were devoted to sleeping apartments ; the 
*' comedor," or dining-room, being a kind of al 
fresco arrangement, formed by a verandah, roofed 
in with " petates," or Indian mats, under which 
were placed a number of small tables and benches, 
for the accommodation of guests. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN, 49 

By dint of great favour, bribery and corrup- 
tion^ we obtained the last room, not actually 
occupied, which the house boasted of, it having 
already, I believe, been promised to three different 
parties, but possession in Mexico is everything in 
cases of disputed ownership. A miserable hole 
it was ; no window, or other means of obtaining 
light or air^ but by the opening doorway, which 
led into a similar apartment, occupied by a 
Mexican mixed family of seven, but which en- 
joyed the luxury of a second door leading into 
the yard. 

Having breakfasted on chicken and frijoles, 
accompanied by a bottle of what the landlord 
assured us was " vino de Bordaos legitime," I 
left my wife to take a little rest on the wretched 
Mexican bed, which, with a single chair, was the 
only furniture in the room, and sallied forth with 

G to see what means of conveyance the 

place afforded by which we could proceed to 
Tepic, which was fifty miles distant, and situated, 
we were informed, on a high plateau, some 
eighteen hundred feet above the sea, and a very 
healthy and agreeable city. 



50 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Our anxiety was considerably increased to 
make a start, on learning that about sunset a small 
red fly or gnat always made its appearance, whose 
bite was very much more severe than that of any 
mosquito, and which generally succeeded in 
effectually blinding new comers for the first few 
days. 

At the offi ce of the diligence we found that all 
the seats were engaged for the next three days, 
and that the place afforded no private convey- 
ances. At last, after a couple of hours' searching, 
we managed to hire the horse of the Sub-Pre- 
fecto's lady for my wife, and a miserable animal, 
not much larger than a good-sized donkey, for 
myself, to take us to Tepie for the sum of twenty 
dollars (£4 English), a servant, mounted on a 
mule, accompanying us to bring the animals 
back. As it was quite impossible to obtain a 

-mount for G , we arranged to await him there 

until he could get a seat in the diligence. 

On returning to the " Meson," we found that 
the young lady before mentioned as the niece of 
the Consul at Topic, and her old escort, were 
going also to start at eight p.m., on horseback, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 51 

Jiaring a carriage to accompany them, in case of 
their becoming fatigued, and we gladly availed 
ourselves of their kind offer to become fellow 
travellers. 

Accordingly, after a dinner, which was very 
like a second edition of the breakfast, we all 
mounted our respective steeds, and started. It 
was a beautiful moonlight night, notwithstand- 
ing which, two mounted servants belonging to 
(mr companions preceded us with torches. Then 
we all followed, with three or four more servants 
leading a couple of spare horses ; the carriage, 
drawn by eight mules, and more torchmen, bring- 
ing up the rear. 

Our road lay through a low, flat country, 
densely wooded, and covered with profuse rank 
vegetation ; and the scene, when we came to a 
temporary halt after a brisk trot of a few miles, 
was truly picturesque. It was at the foot of a 
small hill; where flowed a beautiful stream, over- 
shadowed by immense trees. The wild look of 
the surrounding forest, lighted up by innumerable 
fire flies, the picturesque dress of what appeared 
to our uninitiated eyes the large retinue of armed 

D 2 



52 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

servants, and the high mettled black mules, just 
appearing with the carriage, surrounded by 
mounted flambeau-men, all tended to heighten 
the effect. 

I should here mention that mules in Mexico do 
not at all answer to our English idea of those 
animals, namely, " as stupid as a mule." Great 
attention is paid to breeding them, and they are 
not only very large and handsome, but full of 
spirit, very fleet, and usually good-tempered and 
docile, and will at any time do the work of two 
horses. In most parts of the country they com- 
mand very high prices. 

We pushed steadily on till about midnight, 
when, after mounting a steep hill, we found our- 
selves in a small village, chiefly important as 
being the halting place of " arrieros," or drivers 
of baggage animals. In Mexico, railways being 
only in their infancy, and the roads in many parts 
too bad for waggons, the greater portion of the 
transport of goods is performed by pack mules, 
two or three hundred of which, laden with 
freight, are driven on their journeys of sometimes 
one or two hundred leagues by three or four men 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 53 

on horseback, called " arrieros," wlio are respon- 
sible for the goods, and who seldom lose a pack- 
age of them, though they load and unload them 
night and morning. As we passed through the 
village, it was full of these gentry, many of whom 
were already rising and preparing for the road. 

The whole of the inhabitants seemed to sleep 
in public ; in front of each house could be seen 
^ve or six figures wrapped up in white sheets, 
and looking more like corpses than human beings, 
the only bed used being a '* petate." 

Here we halted for a little refreshment, our 
kind friends producing a most appetizing hamper, 
containing sandwiches, pate de foie gras, cake, 
&c. ; nor was the immortal Widow " Cliquot" 
forgotten, and with the addition of an excellent 
cup of coffee, of Topic growth, prepared by the 
servants on a fire left by some of the " arrieros," 
we concluded a repast such as had probably 
never before been partaken of on that spot. As 
the horses had not yet finished their feed, my 

wife and Miss lay down in the bed of an 

empty cart, to endeavour to catch a few minutes' 
sleep, which was brought to a very abrupt ter- 



54 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN, 

mination by a stray donkey, who, after making 
a minute examination of what he evidently 
considered two strange intruders, laid his head 
close between their faces, and set up a loud bray. 

We now resumed the road, which from this 
point was a continuous ascent, and as day began 
to dawn, perceived that the thick luxuriance of 
tropical vegetation was giving place to a more 
open and cultivated district. Fields of coffee 
and tobacco appeared on each side of the road, 
while orange and lemon trees filled the hedges 
and cottage gardens. 

I may here mention that the flat tract of dense 
vegetation through which we had passed during 
the first part of our journey, is, in the rainy 
season, completely flooded, the diligence pas- 
sengers having to be conveyed in boats, which 
are met by the diligence at a point near to the 
village in which we took supper. 

The horses of myself and wife beicg now 
unable to keep pace with the very superior 
animals of our friends, which were their own 
property, we thought it advisable to take to the 
carriage, or " caratella" as that species of con- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 55 

veyance is termed in Mexico, being a description 
of light spring American waggon, covered with 
poles and curtains, and fitted with comfortable 
seats and cushions. The last few miles of the 
road were all down hill, but the latter were so 
rough that I think it would very much have 
astonished an English coachman to have seen 
our Jehu driving his eight mules down it at full 
gallop, bumping and jumping over stones three 
times the size of his head, and making nothing 
of ruts of from one to two feet deep. I thought 
every moment that over we must go, and tried 
to impress my fears on the driver, but he only 
laughed at me, telling me not to have any fear, 
at the same time urging his animals to still 
greater speed. Subsequent travelling in dili- 
gences over Mexican roads has made one accus- 
tomed to this sort of thing, but to people fresh 
from a civilised country it was a little appalling. 
We were very thankful when, on reaching the 
brow of a hill, our coachman pointed out to us 
the city of Tepic, situated in a large valley of 
surpassing beauty, everything around it looking 
as fresh and as green as if in the " Emerald 



56 MEXICO UNDEK MAXIMILIAN. 

Isle" itself, and with a beautiful little river 
flowing through the midst of it. 

Twenty minutes' more jolting brought us to 
the '' Garita/"* or gate of the town, and after a 
very superficial inspection by the officer of the 
guard, we were permitted to pass, and five 
minutes later arrived, presenting a most dirty 
and jaded appearance, at the " Casa de las Dili- 
gencias,'' or Diligence Hotel, a large, rambling, 
comfortless looking building, though a decided 
improvement on the " Clarendon" of San Bias. 
We were received by a stately, though dirty- 
looking Mexican senora, the landlady, who, if her 
size was any criterion, was certainly a good 
s pecimen of the nutritious qualities of " frijoles" 
and the healthy climate of Tepic. It was now 
eight o'clock, and after a tolerable breakfast of 
excellent chocolate, chickens, eggs, and fruit, we 
were glad to be conducted to our rooms, and 
seeking the welcome shelter of the mosquito 
curtains, were soon in a delicious sleep. 

On rising in the afternoon, it appeared that 
our rooms opened into a broad verandah, which 
extended the whole length of the house, and 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 0/ 

formed an excellent promenade, overlooking the 
" Plaza/' or principal square of the city, a large 
enclosure, surrounded on all sides by houses, and 
laid out with orange, tamarind, and other trees ; 
most Mexican towns have their " Plaza de las 
armas" arranged in this style, and here the band 
plays in the evenings, to which the beauty and 
fashion listen while taking their promenade and 
smoking their cigarettes. The market is also 
held here once a week, to which the Indian popu- 
lation bring their produce of fruit, vegetables, 
poultry, &c. 

After dining at the '^ table d'hote," which was 
a very humble imitation of the French style, 
patronised chiefly by French and Mexican offi- 
cers belonging to the garrison, together with a 
few foreign merchants, we strolled out, and 
joined the pleasure-seeking crowd below. The 
novelty of the scene which here met our view, 
was very striking. 

The Plaza was brilliantly lighted with oil 
lamps, gas being an amount of civilization not 
yet arrived at, and a very good military band 
was playing selections from the popular operas 

D 5 



58 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

of the day. The whole square was thronged with 
pleasure seekers of every grade in life, and in 
every imaginable dress. There were French, 
German, and even English ladies, displaying 
very fair specimens of the latest Paris fashions, 
side by side with seiioras and senoritas, who, in 
addition to the pride they inherited with their 
old Castilian blood, were proud also of their 
national costume, and could not on any consider- 
ation be induced to adopt any new fangled in- 
n ovations ; these appeared universally attired in 
flowing black dresses, and the most graceful of 
all head dresses, when worn properly — the 
Spanish mantillas ; others again, more Mexican 
than Spanish, might be seen in gay colours and 
large ill-fitting crinolines, made in Europe, I 
suppose, especially for export, as one never could 
find such monstrous affairs, even in poor Leech's 
most extravagant caricatures. These young 
ladies, who were inclined to introduce European 
fashions, still had not the courage to attempt a 
bonnet, being satisfied with their national rebozos. 
Again, large numbers of the fair sex of the poorer 
classes — principally Indians — looked very pic- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 59 

turesque in their coloured petticoats, tight fitting 
bodicesj and dark eyes, just peeping from the 
folds of their rebozos. Of the opposite sex, 
might be observed the rich haciendado or landed 
proprietor, with his large felt ^' sombrero," or 
hat, embroidered with gold and silver, having, 
perhaps, from two to three hundred dollars, or 
£40 to £60 worth of bullion, round the brim, 
black jacket, slashed with silver braid, and pan- 
taloons, with double rows of silver buttons down 
each seam, his feet encumbered with elaborately 
carved heavy spurs, of the same metal. Also the 
tall, athletic- looking "ranchero," or farmer, 
dressed in a suit of buff-coloured leather, with 
un tanned deerskin leggings reaching to the thigh, 
at once the picture of health and activity, while 
perhaps by his side would be walking his cousin 
of the town, a pale, unhealthy looking lad, af- 
fecting European dress, and a tall hat, and pre- 
senting the appearance of an undertaker's assis- 
tant. Nor was the scene devoid of the enliven- 
ing effect of military uniforms ; in addition to the 
blue and red of the Mexican army, there were 



60 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

the gaily dressed Zouave, and the jaunty lookiug 
Chasseur d'Afrique. All and everyone seemed 
bent on enjoying the pleasures of the hour ; 
laughing, talking, smoking cigarettes, and flirt- 
ing, seemed to be the universal occupation. 

A visit to the baths in the morning was very 
enjoyable ; each separate bath is large enough to 
swim in, having a stream of the most beautiful 
clear water running through it, and it is shared 
with you by numbers of pretty little trout. It 
must not, however, be inferred that bathing is a 
great national weakness with the Mexican ; as a 
rule they take a bath about once a month, though 
professing to do so weekly. They always make 
it quite an event, probably talking about it days 
before, and it has always been a source of won- 
der to me how the number of public baths in 
some of the large cities make it pay. 

The majority of Mexicans never wash their 
faces, except when taking a hot bath, as they 
consider doing so very injurious, especially to a 
person who is in the habit of being much ex- 
posed to the sun. I have frequently been expos- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 61 

tula ted with when putting my head and face 
into cold water of a morning, being told that it 
would certainly kill me. 

We decided on remaining here for several days 
in order to purchase horses and hire servants for 
our journey, as between this and Guadalajara, a 
distance of some three hundred miles, there was 
then no diligence, as several bridges were broken 
or otherwise out of repair, which no one con- 
sidered it their work to mend. 

The English Consul, Mr. Price, a member of 
the great house of Baron and Co., of Mexico and 
San Francisco, was very kind in rendering us 
every assistance in his power, as well as in show- 
ing us the lions of Tepic and its neighbourhood. 
The town contains about fifteen thousand inhabi- 
taats ; the climate is one of the most delightful 
I ever experienced, always free from cold, yet 
never oppressively hot, producing all the luxu- 
rious vegetation of the tropical, as well as the 
more substantial fruits, vegetables, &c., of the 
temperate zone. 

I must nofc forget to mention the cotton fac- 
tory of Messrs. Baron and Co., and the magnifi- 



62 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

cent garden attached to it, which latter displays 
the wonderful manner in which this country is 
gifted by Providence, a thorough inspection of 
which we were enabled to have, through the 
politeness of Mr. Fowler, the manager, who was 
the gentleman before alluded to as our travelling 
companion from San Bias. 

The factory is situated about half a mile from 
the town on the banks of a very rapid little 
river, from which it derives its water power. 
About one thousand people here obtain employ- 
ment, in addition to the large staff of arrieros 
and waggoners who are constantly bringing the 
raw material from the neighbouring haciendas 
to the factory. The latter is a very handsome 
building, more resembling a palace, and is, I 
have no doubt, excellent of its kind, but not un- 
derstanding the matter sufficiently to explain it 
properly, I will confine my description to the 
garden, which is celebrated all through Mexico. 
About six acres in extent, and enclosed by a high 
stone wall, its first appearance is that of a large 
grove of orange and lemon trees, but on entering 
the gate a very different sight presents itself. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 63 

Side by side with the former trees, in full bearing 
and luxuriance, were apple, pear, peach, apricot, 
plum, and, strange to say, even mango trees (so 
seldom seen except in a thoroughly tropical 
climate). 

Further on again were gooseberries and cur- 
rants on the same plot of ground, with vines bear- 
ing rich clusters of grapes, while the strawberry 
and the pine-apple were ripening within a foot of 
each other. Knowing very little of flowers, I fear 
my account will fall very short of the reality. 
Intermixed with every variety of the highly 
coloured and gaudy productions of the tropics, 
were all our familiar friends of tha English 
garden, roses, azalias, tulips, hollyhocks, carna- 
tions, geraniums, fuchsias, &c„ while a dozen 
varieties of the lordly orchid entwined them- 
selves round an English mountain ash, disputing 
its possession with a beautiful honeysuckle ; and 
the modest violet, and unpretending lily of the 
valley, claimed shelter beneath the shady branches 
of the banana. 

Nor must the more useful productions be for- 
gotten, which I am ashamed to say delighted my 



64 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

eyes (after my late frijoles diet) more than the 
flowers. Green peas and French beans grew 
between rows of coffee trees, asparagus was in 
the highest perfection, and cabbages, cauliflowers, 
cucumbers^ and lettuces, were mixed indiscrimin- 
ately with melons, Indian corn, tomatoes, and 
chilies. Such a scene of luxurious plenty I have 
never witnessed before or since, and I cannot 
imagine a more appropriate appellation for this 
spot of fairyland, than that by which it is known 
to the Mexicans for many a league round, *^ El 
jardin delParaiso" — the garden of paradise. 

We were now joined by G , or rather the 

remains of what the red flies of San Bias had 
left of him; his face resembled a red currant 
pudding, with two large gooseberries where the 
eyes should have been. I need not say how grate- 
ful the green fields and cool breezes of Topic 
appeared to him, after his late sufferings. We 
set to work afc once to buy some horses, and after 
a couple of days' examining, trying, rejecting, 
and bargaining, I bought a most beautiful little 
mustang for my wife ; short legged, deep chested, 
and as the horse-dealers say, ^' as handsome as a 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 6^ 

picture ;'' also, a very tolerable little Mexican 
bred horse, for myself, which, though perhaps a 
little deficient in bone, made up for it in blood and 

activity. G , who was a heavy weight, bought 

a large, raw-boned, ugly-looking grey, I think a 
Texan, but which turned out an excellent road- 
ster, carrying his master the whole journey with- 
out ever being sick or sorry, and turning the 
tables on many who had laughed at its grotesque 
appearance. 

We also engaged the services of a Mexican 
servant and his son, both of whom were highly 
recommended by the Consul, and who were to 
accompany us to Guadalajara, supplying us with 
four pack mules for our baggage at the rate of 
fifteen dollars per animal, in addition to which 
we had to pay two- and-a-half reals, equal to one 
shilling and threepence English per day, for the 
keep of each ; the distance, as I have before said, 
being almost one hundred leagues. Having our 
own English saddleiy, we had now nothing 
more to provide, and only delayed a couple of 
days longer to have the benefit of travelling with 
General Cortes and his party, who were expected 



t)t> MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

to arrive from San Bias, and as we were strangers 
to the country, and almost to the language, this 
was an opportunity not to be despised. 

Through the influence of Mr. Price, we ob- 
tained letters from the '' Commandante" of Tepic, 
to the officers in command of the different posts 
along the road, requesting them to furnish us 
with escorts when necessary, or any other assist- 
ance in their power. Everything was at length 
completed, G-eneral Cortes had arrived, and the 
following day was fixed upon for a start. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 67 



CHAPTER Y. 

On the 20th of January we proceeded on our 

journey, the party consisting of G , myself 

and wife, General Cortes and two other Mexican 
officers, two servants of ours, and four or ^ve of 
the Generals'. The delays, which always do 
occur in making a first start, brought it well 
into the middle of the day before we finally 
rode through the *^ Garita " of the city, and as 
our first march was continually interrupted in 
altering bridles, girths, stirrups, &c., which were 
either too long or too short, and in re-packing 
the loads of the mules, which had not yet 
'^shaken down" into their places, it was just 
getting dusk as we entered a small village not 
more than four leagues from our starting point. 

I had a letter of introduction to a Frenchman, 
who owned an hacienda here, but, as luck would 
have it, he was away from home, and his servants 



b» MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

were taking advantage of his absence to hold a 
grand *' fandango," or ball, at which everyone 
was in such a stafce of excitement, what with 
'* mescal" and dancing, that we could not elicit 
the slightest attention from any of his people. I 
should here explain that mescal is a description 
of whisky distilled from the maguey, a species of 
large aloe, of the cactus family ; from the same 
plant is also made the national drink, called 
pulque, of which the Mexicans are so fond. 

There was no meson in the place, and no one 
seemed inclined to receive us into their house, 
and there appeared every probability of our hav- 
ing to " camp out." 

At last, through the diplomacy of our " mozos," 
as servants are called, the use of a house belong- 
ing to an Indian family was obtained, if such an 
appellation can be applied to a structure com- 
posed of '' adobes," or bricks made of common 
mud, baked in the sun, and roughly thatched 
with the coarse stalks of Indian corn. It con- 
sisted of one room only, and, as usual, no window. 
In it were all the household gods of the family, 
cooking utensils, clothing, eatables, &c. The 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 69 

furniture consisted only of a few boards on a 
stretcher, in lieu of a bed, and a wooden stool. 
Although the family had vacated their mansion in 
our favour there were other occupants which we 
found it much more difficult to get rid of; hens 
were roosting on the rafters, and pigeons cooed in 
some unknown regions overhead, while two cur 
dogs resisted all attempts to keep them out, com- 
ing back immediately, regardless of blows and 
kicks. This we could not prevent, as it was 
necessary for ventilation to keep the door open. 

G and the mozos slept outside, with their 

saddles for pillows and India petates for beds. 
After a wretched night passed with the musquitoes 
and fleas, we were aroused by a message from the 
Frenchman, who had just returned, asking us to 
take a '' desayiino," or early breakfast, with him, 
which he said would be ready on the instant, to 
enable us to start before the sun was up. On 
repairing to his house we were there detained up- 
wards of two hours, receiving the assurance every 
five minutes that coffee would be ready instantly. 
At last, losing all patience, the sun being already 
high in the horizon, we bid him good morning, 



70 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

and mounting our horses, started on our journey 
fasting. I was afterwards informed by one of our 
mozos that the cows which were to supply the 
breakfast milk were still in the mountain, the 
men who had gone to catch them not yet having 
succeeded in doing so, and that there was no fire, 
as the boy had not arrived with the charcoal from 
the woods where it was made. This, as I subse- 
quently learnt, was not at all a singular instance 
of the bad management in Mexican households. 

We travelled in this manner for several 'days, 
starting always before daybreak, and sometimes 
halting about ten a.m., resuming oar journey 
after a halt for breakfast, about three in the after- 
noon ; at other times, when the distance to the 
next stage was not too great, we performed it at 
one stretch, generally arriving about twelve or 
one o'clock. On these occasions the long fast 
was very distressing, especially to a lady, ^as 
nothing but a cup of coffee or chocolate could 
ever be obtained so early in the morning, and 
very often neither of those. 

The accommodation varied sometimes ; should 
the halting place be in a small town or good 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 71 

sized village, we might obtain a tolerable room, 
with a clean stone floor, wooden bedstead, and 
deal table, and chairs ; while at others nothing 
€0uld be had but an Indian hut, like that already 
described. The Mexicans have very loose ideas 
of modesty. On one occasion we had been de- 
layed a day ; there were several Americans on the 
road, principally our fellow passengers in the 
steamer, and we had always hitherto kept one 
day ahead of them, but our delay had enabled 
them to overtake us. On arrival at the only 
meson of the place we found it crowded, and not 
a corner to be had. The general and his aides 
were comfortably installed in a room, he in the 
only bed it contained, and the aides-de-camp 
sleeping on a large heap of corn at the other end 
of it. Directly he heard of our dilemma he called 
to me, and told me not to trouble myself, that the 
senorita should have his bed, and that he would 
go and sleep on the corn with his aides at the 
other end of the same room. I need hardly say 
that we preferred camping out in the verandah 
of the house, which rather offended the old man. 
On another occasion I positively saw a party of 



72 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

fifteen comparative strangers, consisting of four 
gentlemen, five ladies, and six children, sleeping 
in one small room; just as we were passing the 
open door and looking with astonishment at this 
" happy family," the grandmother of the chil- 
dren broke out into warm abuse of one of the 
gentlemen for putting his feet in her face, while 
another lady was making a similar complaint 
against an old Mexican general. 

The food obtainable at the different villages on 
the road was very bad indeed ; lucky we were 
when chickens or eggs could be procured ; meat 
we very seldom saw, and when we did it was 
generally of so bad a description, and so spoiled 
in the cooking, as to be uneatable. 

Everything was dressed after the national cus- 
tom, namely, smothered in chilies, and should 
there be a dish that had escaped this condiment, 
and could be eaten without burning out the 
roof of one's mouth, it was certain to stifle one 
with garlic. 

Had we not taken the precaution to bring with 
us a number of tinned provisions and biscuits, 
my wife must sometimes have literally starved, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 73 

as she could not bring herself to partake of any 
of the Mexican dishes. Bread was a luxury very 
seldom met with ; only when passing through any 
of the larger towns could it be had, the universal 
substitute being tortillas, which are a species of 
unleavened cake, made as follows : the maize or 
Indian corn is put into water and soaked for twelve 
hours, then triturated between two stones into 
the consistency of a pulp, water being added from 
time to time during the process, which is always 
conducted by a woman on her knees ; when the 
paste is ready a little salt is added, and the whole 
is made into large, flat cakes, about the thick- 
ness of a pancake, placed on an iron plate and 
baked, or rather heated through, over a **brasero/' 
or brasier of charcoal. This is usually done dur- 
ing the meal, which enables you always to have 
them hot. I found them very much improved by 
being baked quite three times longer than the 
usual process. There is one dish in Mexican 
cuisine already mentioned, which, when once ac- 
customed to, most foreigners like. I refer to the 
bean or frijole. It is in reality the seed of a 
species of French bean ; but I fancy there must 

E 



74 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

be some difference in tlie plant to that grown in 
Europe. The beans are small, some being red- 
dish in colour, and some quite black. The 
Mexicans boil them for several hours, a kind of 
soda being put into the water to make them soft, 
after which, having been seasoned with chilis, 
onions, &c., they are fried in lard, but so well 
done that they are served up quite dry like a 
mealy potato. 

The aspect of the country for the first few days 
was flat, and, generally speaking, very fertile, the 
principal crops being barley, maize, and sugar 
cane. Sometimes we rode a whole day's journey 
through an uninterrupted prairie, in which the 
grass, though not high, was very thick and green, 
as it was shortly after the rainy season ; but in the 
dry weather it becomes completely parched up. 
After the fifth day, the road began to ascend very 
perceptibly, and the change in vegetation was 
also very apparent. In the wooded parts oaks of 
different varieties began to show themselves, and 
an occasional magney, the plant peculiar to the 
^'Tierra fria," or cold country, also might be 
seen. This latter, to which I have before alluded, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 75 

is to the poorer classes of Mexico literally the tree 
of life. 

First of all, from its sap is fermented the na- 
tional drink called pulque, which is manufactured 
as follows : — When the plant has arrived at 
maturity, which is supposed to be in about seven 
years, it throws out a large heart like a cabbage, 
white in the centre ; this is cut out, and the small 
end of a long pearl-shaped gouf d is inserted. To 
this is attached a tube of bamboo, from which a 
man sucks up the sap, which falls into the large 
end of the gourd ; this, when full, is emptied into 
a pigskin, thrown across a donkey's back, and 
taken to the hacienda, where it is put into a large 
vat, also made of pigskin, stretched over frame- 
work, and it is there left for two or three days to 
ferment, after which it is ready for use. When 
new, it is very sweet, and pleasant drinking, but 
has rather a slimy effect on the palate ; if let 
remain for two or three days longer, it becomes 
strong, and loses much of its sweetness. The 
strength of it is quite equal to that of mild or 
strong ale, according to the length of time it is 
allowed to ferment. From this is again distilled 

E 2 



76 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

the coarse spirit called mescal, also referred to 
before ; and in Tequila and its neighbourhood a 
njuch finer description is made from the root of 
the same plant, which is first baked in an oven of 
adobes, and afterwards put into the still ; this 
has a smoky flavour, very much resembling Irish 
whisky, the finer qualities being quite equal in 
flavour to that excellent spirit. The heart of the 
plant is much used by the Indians as a vegetable, 
being, when well cooked, very wholesome and nu- 
tritious ; while a small white worm, or, rather, 
grub, which is formed in the leaves, is considered 
the greatest delicacy of the table when well fried 
in lard. Paper, rope, saddle cloths, aud a variety 
of articles, are made from the branches, and the 
large thick, flat leaves form the universal roofing 
for Indian huts in the districts where it grows ; 
while the sharp, straight thorns at the ends of the 
branches supply the substitute for needles to the 
Indian women. 

It is much cultivated on the upper plateaux of 
Mexico, forming the principal wealth of the 
haciendas, and is planted in long regular rows, 
often with barley between them, each plant being 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 77 

computed to be worth, when arrived at maturity, 
from ten to fifteen dollars, the realising of which 
extends over from two to three years ; after 
which, the process of extracting the sap kills it, 
when it is dug up, and replaced by a young 
plant. 

The higher orders of Mexicans, perhaps, drink 
as little as any nation I have ever known ; boozing 
at bars, as in America, is unknown among them. 
The lower classes seem to take periodical fits of 
drinking, at which times they become quite mad- 
dened ; this is particularly so with the Indians, 
who, when under the influence of liquor, seem to 
have a thirst for blood, and usually on such occa- 
sions commit some act of stabbing, or wounding. 

We journeyed onwards for several days with- 
out much change, the road all the time ascending 
until we reached the large elevated plateau over- 
looking the town of Tequila, which is situated in 
a pleasant little valley. 

Having a letter of recommendation to the " com- 
mandante," we rode direct to his house, and were 
received by him at the door, and conducted through 
a long line of soldiers, guards, orderlies, servants. 



78 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

&C.5 until we reached the '^ Sala," or drawing 
room, and as this was a very fair specimen of 
what Mexican reception rooms usually are, it 
deserves a little description. 

It was a long and lofty chamber, with a 
polished oak floor, at the extreme end of which 
was placed a small Turkey carpet, on which was 
a large sofa and two easy chairs, with a small 
table placed in the middle. These, with the 
exception of a few seats placed on each side of 
the other portion of the room, constituted tho 
whole of the furniture. We were conducted by 
our host to the sofa, which is always considered 
the seat of honour, reserved for guests, he and 
his son taking the seats on the easy chairs on each 
Bide of us. The first thing they did was to offer 
us cigarettes, which is really in Mexico almost a 
universal custom on receiving visitors, to omit 
doing which might be construed into a breach of 
etiquette. 

The usual Mexican compliments then com- 
menced ; the Commandante, who was really a very 
fine old fellow, of pure Spanish descent, with the 
air and hauteur of a grandee, and the studied 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 79 

politeness of the old school, still practised all the 
hacknied absurdities so common among Mexicans. 
After enquiring after our health, and how we had 
passed the journey, &c., he told us that it was 
impossible for him to describe his joy at the good 
fortune which had brought him this visit, and 
assured us that his house, his wife, his horses, 
dogs, money, and everything that he possessed 
were at our disposal, and that he should only feel 
too much honour at our appropriating any or all 
of them. These speeches, extravagant as they 
may seem, were merely intended as empty com- 
pliments, and are what any polite Mexican would 
say on any such an occasion. Should you make 
a remark admiring a horse, gun, saddle, or any 
other article belonging to him, in his presence, 
the invariable . reply would be — '' Es de usted, 
senor''' (It is yours, sir), but should any ignor- 
amus take him at his word his astonishment and 
disgust would be extreme, and he would manage, 
by some excuse or other, to get out of it. I have 
frequently been introduced by gentlemen to their 
wives in these terms — ^' Mi esposa, senor, a la 
disposicion de usted ^^ (My wife, sir, at your 



80 MEXICO UKDER MAXIMILIAN. 

service, or your disposal). A friend of mine was 
once placed in a very embarrassing situation by 
one of tbese complimentary speeches. He was 
calling witb bis wife, who bad lately joined bim 
from England, and was ignorant of the customs 
of tbe country, on a young and pretty Mexican 
matron. During tbe conversation ber little boy 
entered tbe room, and my friend naturally 
enquired — ^'Is tbis your son, seiiorita?" To 
wbicb tbe lady replied, with a coquettisb smile- — 
'' Si, senor, y de usted tambien,'^ (Yes, sir, and 
yours also.) 

Tbe effect produced upon bis wife I leave to tbe 
imagination of my readers. 

Cbocolate was now banded round, after wbicb 
we were conducted to our rooms to refresb our- 
selves a little, and about nine o'clock supper was 
announced, and sucb a supper we bad not tasted 
for many a day. Soup, fisb from tbe " laguna," 
or lake, mutton, and fowls, dressed in many 
different ways, salad, sweets, &c., winding up witb 
tbe two great national Mexican disbes, namely, 
'^ mole "of turkey, and "frijoles." Tbe former 
is a stew of turkey, seasoned beautifully witb 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 81 

different spices and tlie everlasting red chilies, 
but so well disguised and moderated that the 
most delicate palate would not have been offended 
by it. French wines and sherry were in abun- 
dance, and at the end of the repast some magnifi- 
cent " Mescal de Tequila," already alluded to, was 
placed upon the table, which our host assured us 
was thirty years old. 

Though upwards of sixty, this old warrior had 
taken unto himself a very pretty young wife, 
who did the honours of her husband's table to 
perfection. Generals Cortes, Alvarez (not the 
Liberal of that name), and several officers of the 
garrison, formed a portion of the party, as well 
as some of the Americans, of both sexes, who 
were travellers like ourselves. Dancing was in- 
troduced after supper, and the Mexican garrison 
band which played, acquitted itself very credit- 
ably. 

Mexicans have, as a nation, a wonderful taste 
for music ; not only are ail their military bands 
very good, but the smallest village usually has 
its brass band ; the performers, many of whom 
are Indians, frequently learn in a great measure 

E 5 



S'Z MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

by ear. The guitar is universally played by both 
sexes, and can be bought for from one real (6d, 
English) upwards. They also frequently accom- 
pany it by many wild and plaintive national 
songs. 

We did not see much of the town on the fol- 
lowing day, as we had again to take the road ; 
but it seemed well built and clean, containing 
about 10,000 inhabitants, and was garrisoned by 
1,0C0 Mexican troops. Our kind host and hostess, 
and a numerous retinue, accompanied us on 
horseback for the first league of the road, the 
lady riding in a muslin dress and an enormous 
crinoline; they had sent a messenger forward, 
and had breakfast ready prepared at a small vil- 
lage, a league from Tequila, which we all par- 
took of together, after which we very reluctantly 
bid them farewell, and continued our march. 

Hospitality is universally met with in Mexico, 
the absence in many parts of inns making it 
almost inevitable. Any traveller, on reaching 
an hacienda, rides up to the door as a matter of 
course, servants come for his horse, and he is 
received by the host, who, after chocolate and 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 83 

compliments have been offered, not forgetting 
the cigarette, conducts him to his room to re- 
fresh himself, before the family dinner or supper, 
as the case may be. He is welcome to remain as 
long as he chooses, during which period the best 
of everything the hacienda contains is freely sup- 
plied to him and his horse. A Prussian with 
whom I was acquainted, and who was in pecu- 
niary difficulties, lived for over a twelvemonth 
entirely on the different haciendas in the valley 
of Mexico, hivS entire capital consisting of a horse, 
saddle and bridle, two suits of clothes, carried in 
his saddle bags, and a revolver. He used to stay 
a week or two at each hacienda, taking them all 
in turn, and was as well known as the weekly 
postman ; and I believe he never once received a 
cold welcome ; on the contrary, his advent was 
regularly looked forward to by his entertainers. 
Nothing worthy of notice occurred to us be- 
tween this and Guadalajara ; rising at from three 
to four o'clock, according to the length of the 
day's march, the long weary ride in the dark, 
following the guide in single file, for fear of rid- 
ing into a hole, the same scorching after the sun 



84 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

rose, until the halting place for the night was 
reached, the same chilies and frijoles for dinner. 
Every now and then we met a patrol of Mexican 
light cavalry, or passed a post where a sergeant 
and ten men were stationed, and, strange to say, 
we never once fell in with any guerrillas. On 
the morning of the day on which we were to 
enter Guadalajara, it began to rain furiously. 
The whole of the American party had now over- 
taken us, and we had been travelling together 
for the last few days, the men on horseback, and 
several women and children in a large ambulance, 
drawn by twelve mules. On we plodded through 
the drenching rain, the road being a perfect 
running river, and so full of deep holes, that it 
was most dangerous riding. The ambulance was 
full, but I managed to obtain a seat on the box 
for my wife by the side of the driver, as with the 
wind and rain in her face, she could hardly sit 
her horse. Before we had performed half the 
distance from our last halting place to Guadala- 
jara, the mules of the ambulance began to give 
in, and in less than half an 'hour more they could 
hardly be induced by the coachman to go out of 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 85 

a walk. We were all obliged to become amateur 
muleteers, each one riding by the side of one of 
tbe muleSj urging and thrashing him on at in- 
tervals the whole way. This continued through 
pelting rain and up to the horse's knees in 
water for several hours, only halting occasionally 
to refresh the animals a little, and take a small 
nip from a jar of our friend, the Commandante's, 
excellent ^^ Tequila." It was between ten and 
eleven at night before we reached the " Casa de 
las Diligencias," and were very thankful to take 
off our dripping clothes, and, after a hasty 
supper, get into comfortable beds, a luxury we 
had not enjoyed since leaving Tequila. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 



CHAPTER YI. 

Here we decided on remaining for several days, 
to recruit ourselves after our recent fatigues, and 
see the fine city of Guadalajara, the third in 
Mexico, having over fifty thousand inhabitants. 
We were quite surprised at its extent, and the 
superior style of the public buildings. The 
Cathedral is a most imposing structure, built of 
stone. It has two square towers, of enormous 
size, something in the Norman style, and several 
magnificently painted windows, while the beauty 
of the nave, the decorations of the altars, and 
the fine collection of old paintings, principally 
by Spanish masters, which adorn the walls, 
might rival many of the finest in Europe. 

Among the other public buildings may be 
noticed the '' Prefectura," or Town Hall, the 
Bishop's Palace, and the Mint. 

The Plaza is also a very fine square, one side 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 87 

of which is formed by the Cathedral, opposite is 
a colonnade, with shops underneath, called in 
Mexico a '^ Portal ;" it is built something in the 
same style as the old Colonnade in Regent Street, 
though differing altogether in architecture and 
general appearance. In these shops, which 
comprise drapers, jewellers, saddlers, and " mer- 
cerias," or haberdashers, may be bought any- 
thing, from, an English silk dress, a Dent's 
watch, or a Rogers' knife, to the common 
'' manta," or cloth, made by the Indians, home- 
made cutlery, or the sham jewellery of the 
Palais Royal. The streets are broad, and, for a 
Mexican city, very clean ; the shops generally 
good. It was curious to notice how everything 
French seemed to be universally in fashion, in 
every little shop were exposed for sale French 
wines, sardines, absinthe, Vermuth, tins of pre- 
served vegetables, olives, &c., while nothing 
English, in the eating and drinking department, 
was to be found. French cutlery, drapery, and 
even fire-arms, seemed also to be preferred to our 
own. Of course this was due in a great measure 
to the occupation of the country by French troops, 



88 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

whicli formed no mean portion of the customers. 
Many of the lower order of Mexicans have an 
idea that there are only two countries in the 
world besides their own, namely, France and the 
TJnited States, from one or other of which most 
of their foreign luxuries are supplied. A friend 
of mine, while travelling alone in the north of 
Mexico, fell one day into the hands of the 
Liberals. They at first were for hanging imme- 
diately what they supposed to be " the accursed 
Frenchman," but, through the interference of the 
Colonel, the execution was delayed until a few 
questions could be put to him. He was then 
asked to what country he belonged, France or 
America, to which he replied, neither, that his 
country was called Ireland. The Colonel on this 
looked very " wise," and said, doubtfully, " that 
is, I believe, a portion of the United States." 
My friend said, "No, that it was in Europe;** 
upon which the Colonel was thoroughly puzzled. 
At last a bright idea struck the Patlander ; he 
said, " The Irish are the Liberals of England." 
This was quite sufficient; he was immediately 
released, and instead of a yard of hemp being 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 89 

supplied for him, he was feted and treated as an 
honoured guest, the Colonel haviog made the 
following speech to him : — " I don't know where 
your country is, never having heard of the places 
you mention. I suppose they are a long way 
off, but it is clear to me that our principles are 
the same, and that you have the good cause at 
heart as much as any of us." 

There was a very strong garrison at Guadala- 
jara, of both French and Mexican troops, which 
added not a little to the liveliness of the place. 

I here very foolishly exchanged my little 
Mexican horse, which had carried me so well 
hitherto, for a large Texan bred mare, giving 
one hundred dollars to boot, as I fancied it was 
too small, and not up to my weight. I had yet 
to learn that the best horses in Mexico, on a 
journey, for any weight, never exceed fourteen 
hands, and many are very much under that 
height ; they will carry a heavy man all day, at 
the same pace, a kind of amble, or " paso," as 
it is called there, often travelling thirty and even 
forty leagues a-day, without being the worse 
for it. 



90 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

We saw our first bull-fight here, which was 
conducted, I fancy, a little differently to the 
manner in which they are done in Spain. It 
was Sunday (I trust my readers will not be 
shocked), that being the only day on which these 
exhibitions are held. All the beauty and fashion 
were there, at least as far as the Mexicans and 
French were concerned; the few English ladies 
in Gruadalajara I need hardly say do not attend 
this fashionable sport, though on the principle, 
I suppose, that " vice to be hated needs but to 
be seen," they all go once. 

However, the boxes on the shady side of the 
arena — the sunny side being occupied by the com- 
mon people who pay only one real entrance — were 
well filled with glittering uniforms, and bright- 
eyed belles, all as eager for the sport as children 
at a pantomime. The ring, which is entirely 
surrounded by boxes and seats, is about twenty 
yards in diameter, the space underneath the 
boxes level with the ground being used as stables 
for the bulls and horses which took part in the 
fight, and retiring rooms for the different per- 
formers. At the first sound of the trumpet all 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 91 

the inferior actors in the fight enter the ring- 
from one side, and the bull from the other. These 
consist first of two or more men on horseback, 
armed with long lances, the toreros, or men 
on foot, with nothing but red cloths in their 
hands, whose business it is to irritate and annoy 
the bull in every possible way, and whenever he 
makes a rush at them they throw their red cloths 
over his horns, and slip aside from his charge 
with great dexterity. Next come the bauderilleros, 
who are armed with a number of small flags, fas- 
tened to little lances about the size of arrows, 
with which they invite a charge from the bull, 
and then throw them into his face or neck, and 
leaving them sticking in his flesh, slip out of 
his way themselves. Some of these are on 
horseback, and will ride to meet him at full 
gallop, always throwing their flags into him 
when at a few yards' distance, and passing him 
on the left hand side. The business of the lance 
men is to come to the rescue whenever any of 
the others are in danger, diverting "Toro's" 
attention by pricking him with their lances, with 
which, when closely pressed themselves they are 



92 MEXrCO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

supposed to be able to keep him off; the lances, 
though they have iron heads, are slightly- 
blunted, so that they cannot inflict a very serious 
wound, unless the horsemen rode at the bull at 
full gallop, which is never done. 

After going through various stages of worry- 
ing by all these above-mentioned tormentors, the 
bull is supposed to be in a fit state of fury, or as 
more frequently happens, he is thoroughly tired 
out, the bugle sounds for the ^' matador " or 
killer. This gentleman comes in alone armed 
with a long rapier, and a cloak or "serape" 
thrown over his left arm. He and ^'^ Toro " eye 
one another as mortal enemies. The bull will 
generally charge him uninvited, but should he 
not do so the " matador " makes the advance by 
walking up to him and flirting his cloak in his 
eyes, and as he returns it by making a rush, the 
"matador" throws the cloak over his horns, 
slips to one side, and as the animal passes by 
him thrusts his rapier up to the hilt into his 
body, generally just behind the fore shoulder, 
when it enters the heart, and he rolls over dead. 
Cries of bravo then resound, bouquets, cigars. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 93 

money, &c., are showered on the victor, and a 
train of gaily caparisoned mules enter the ring 
and drag off poor '^ Toro " at a gallop, to make 
way for another. Should the bull gain any ad- 
vantage over any of his tormentors, tossing, or 
even killing them, the public delight is un- 
bounded, and cries of " bravo, Toro " resound 
on all sides. This work goes on for several 
hours, until some half dozen or more bulls have 
been thus slaughtered. It is, 1 think, on the 
whole a cruel, one-sided, and disgusting affair, 
and we found witnessing the fate of one bull 
quite sufficient to satisfy our curiosity. It is 
sometimes varied, though perhaps not for the 
better. In place of the poor beast being killed, 
he is worried until he is thoroughly tired out, and 
then sent back again ; on these occasions many 
of the Mexican youths, belonging to the higher 
classes, enter the ring on horseback, and show 
their dexterity with the lasso, throwing it over 
the bull in every conceivable manner, bringing 
him down with it when at full gallop, sometimes 
by the horns, at others throwing it round his legs 
as he runs, and jerking them from under him. 



94 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

The practice called " colear " is tlie most amus- 
ing to witness. The bull is urged into a gallop 
by one or other mode of teasing, and when so, the 
competitors in the chase ride after him, the 
struggle being who shall get hold of his tail. 
This done, the holder of it suddenly throws his 
leg over it, and touching with his spur the re- 
verse flank of his horse, which, if well trained, 
gives a spring forward, and the sudden shock of 
his tail being thus dragged to one side while at 
full speed brings the bull rolling over on his 
back. 

It must be borne in mind that a Mexican 
saddle is not at all like the article we are accus- 
tomed to in Europe. The tree is something like 
that of a well-built pack saddle, resting on the 
horse's back so as to allow daylight to be seen 
from one end to the other, and thus never galling 
the back bone. It has a high pommel in front 
and behind, the former being surmounted by a 
round plate, usually covered with silver, the dif- 
ferent studs, nails, &c., being made of the same 
metal. The stirrup leathers are four or ^ve inches 
bioad, completely sheltering the leg ; and the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 95 

stirrups, which are square in shape, are broad 
enough for the whole flat part of the foot to rest 
on. Suspended to the front pommel is the lasso 
neatly coiled up, which, when the rider has thrown 
over an animal, he quickly winds by one or two 
turns round the small part of the pommel, below 
the plate, which prevents its slipping off, an 
operation which, if not quickly performed, may 
result in your finger being cut in two. The 
saddle is altogether a very comfortable contri- 
vance, and a good rider can with difficulty be 
thrown off it, as he is completely wedged in 
both in front and behind. Numerous straps are 
attached, for the purpose of carrying things on a 
journey, and behind are usually worn two long, 
deep bags of black goat skin, to hold clothing, 
&c., called calritillas. 

It is usual at the end of a day's performance to 
turn a bull into the ring, with large pads on his 
horns, to prevent his being able to gore anyone, 
and the whole of the men and boys of the lower 
orders who choose, enter the ring and worry him 
to their heart's content, pelting him with dirt, 
stones, &c., all being apparently skilled at throw- 



VD MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

ing their serapes (a species of shawl used as a 
wrap by every Mexican) over his horns when in 
danger, and getting out of his way. Sometimes 
an unlucky wight gets tossed, to the great de- 
light of all the rest, no more pity being shown 
for him than if he were a skater, and had fallen 
on the ice through his own awkwardness. 

After three days, spent very pleasantly here, 
we again began to make preparations for the 
road. Our mozos from Tepic were paid off, as 
they would not go further from their homes, nor 
did they know the road, so fresh ones had to be 
engaged in their places. Our party was also 
now increased by two G-erman Americans, one 
of whom had previously resided in the country, 
and as he spoke the language fluently he was of 
course a great acquisition to us. 

We started on the fifth morning after our arri- 
val, ourselves and horses quite refreshed by 
the long rest, and I vainly imagining that my 
being mounted in so superior a manner on my 
new mare made me a very formidable antagonist 
in case of a brush with the guerrillas. We had 
never so much as seen a robber as yet, and were 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 97 

beginning to think they were myths — a delusion 
soon to be dispelled. 

On the second night after leaving Gruadalajara, 
we reached a large hacienda, which was the halt- 
ing place for the night of the diligence, and, con- 
sequently, had been converted into a comfortable 
sort of hotel. The diligence arrived a few hours 
after us, bringing several passengers, among 
whom were our old friends Grenerals Alvarez and 
Cortes, who had deserted us, and taken to the 
coach, also two other Mexican officers — all were 
armed with revolvers ; there were besides, a priest, 
a lady abbess, and four or five nuns. The proba- 
bility of falling in with robbers was discussed at 
supper, and the military Mexicans talked very 
'^ big " about the formidable resistance their 
party would make if attacked. The stage started 
at three a.m., and we at four. Just as day was 
breaking, we noticed five horsemen, all apparently 
armed, about a quarter of a mile off, coming 
towards us. The road led over a large grassy 
piece of prairie country, so that it was very easy 
to make a detour, and avoid anyone if you wished 
to do so. We made up our minds that our turn 



98 MEXICO UNDER 

had come, and that we must either deliver up, 
make a bolt across the prairie, or fight for it ; 
and as we were four Europeans, well armed, we 
decided on the latter, should it become necessary. 
The Mexican servants we did not reckon upon, as 
they were strangers to us, and, though armed, it 
was very unlikely they would fight, unless in self- 
defence. After looking to the priming of our 
revolvers, and placing my wife behind, near the 
baggage animals, which had closed up with us, 
W€ rode forward, all abreast, at a trot, ready to 
receive our foes, who came on at a gallop until 
within about a hundred yards, when they sud- 
denly halted, and, taking a hasty survey of us, 
wheeled round, and dashed off across the prairie 
on our right. Of course we were quite satisfied 
at being unmolested, and left in undisputed 
possession of the field, and did not attempt 
pursuit, which would have been as useless as dan- 
gerous, to say nothing of leaving my wife unpro- 
tected. We watched thetn for a long time as they 
made a large detour, and eventually re-entered 
the road, about a mile behind us, still continuing 
their journey in the same direction as before. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 99 

On arrival at our halting place, at night, the 
people asked us if we had seen the robbers, as 
the diligence (containing our friends), which 
passed at mid- day, had been robbed within an 
hour after leaving the hacienda at which we had 
spent the night ; and we were further informed 
that the coach was stopped by only two men, who 
ransacked the luggage and pockets of all the pas- 
sengers — ^Generals, aides-de-camp, priest, nuns, 
&c.-— not one of whom offered the slightest re- 
sistance. This was the first example we had ex- 
perienced of Mexican valour, and by no means a 
singular one. They almost always prefer being 
robbed on the road to fighting ; the reason they 
assign is, that if a man who is in the habit of 
travelling much in Mexico is to fight whenever 
robbers appear, he will spend the greater portion 
of his time at it, and in case of being overpowered 
ill-treatment would be the punishment of resist- 
ance; whereas, if none is offered, the passengers 
are usually treated with civility by these gentry, 
and the Mexicans, therefore, accept the lesser 
evil, only taking the precaution to carry nothing 
valuable with them, and as little money as 

F 2 



100 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

possible. We subsequently discovered, however, 
that the robbers themselves were quite as great 
cowards as their victims. 

My readers may wonder why we did not avail 
ourselves of the diligence at Guadalajara ; but in 
the first place we had bought our horses, and in 
the second, those who have experienced twelve to 
fifteen hours at a stretch, jolting over Mexican 
roads, almost stifled by heat and dust, and con- 
sider that this would have lasted for many days, 
without intermission, to reach the city of Mexico, 
may understand our reasons for preferring to 
travel as we did. Besides, in case of being 
attacked, we could at any rate see our enemies 
approaching, and prepare for them, instead of 
being caught like mice in a trap. 

On the following day, as we were riding gently 
along, my mare quite suddenly fell dead lame. 
After dismounting and making a minute exami- 
nation, nothing of any kind could be discovered 
which would account for it — the lameness ap- 
peared to be in the stifle joint, though there was 
not the slightest heat or swelling ; she could not 
have strained herself on the road, as we had not 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 101 

been out of a walk, and she was going perfectly 
sound the moment before, not even having 
stumbled. However, I had to ride one of the 
mozo's horses to the end of the stage, as she 
could hardly move ; and not being able to afford 
time to remain there a day, I had to leave her be- 
hind for the mozo to take on his return, and 
accept the old raw-boned animal he offered me in 
exchange, which I subsequently sold for sixteen 
dollars. I have often thought since that I was 
the victim of a trick, concocted between the mozo 
and the man that sold me the mare ; it is not an 
uncommon accomplishment for Mexicans to teach 
their horses to simulate lameness when given a 
certain signal to do so — as, for instance, a prick 
in any particular place with a knife, or a pinch in 
one of the ears — and it is possible the mare had 
been thus educated, and that these two worthies 
had practised a fraud upon me, which had I then 
possessed my present experience, I should pro- 
bably have detected. 

After several days' journey, without any inci- 
dent, we arrived within two days of Guanajuato, 
a populous and thriving city containing upwards 



102 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

of fifty thousand inhabitants ; and the day before 
reaching that place, we had the only adventure 
with robbers which happened to us during the 
whole journey. 

It was about an hour after daybreak, and we 
were riding quietly along, when, on turning a 
sharp angle of the road, ten men, mounted and 
armed, suddenly emerged from a little copse on 
our right, and came down upon us at full gallop, 
shouting and yelling like fiends, and firing ran- 
dom shots at us from their carbines, which luckily 
took no effect. We were so taken by surprise 
that there was little time for preparation ere they 
were close upon us, vociferating to us to get off 
our horses. This was answered by two shots, one 
of which, from my pistol, brought down a man 
who was in the act of levelling his carbine, and 
the other was fired, with equally good effect, by 

G , killing the horse of what appeared to be 

the leader of the party, and crippling the rider 
with the fall. The rest immediately galloped off 
about fifty yards, and commenced a desultory fire, 
wounding one of our baggage animals in the leg. 
This had to be stopped, and our two German 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 103 

friends joining us, we charged them at a gallop, 
giving them two or three volleys from our revol- 
vers, as we approached, but they did not wait to 
receive us, scampering off in every direction into 
the adjacent woods. Three more, however, fell 
into our hands, one, whose horse got wounded in 
the charge, was lassoed by one of the mozos, and 
the other two were not quick enough to escape, 
as. we were upon them before fchey could get out 
of the road. We imagined also that some of 
those who escaped were wounded, but could not 
be certain. Binding our prisoners with their 
hands behind their backs, we returned to our 
baggage mules, and the two wounded men ; the 
one I had shot had his leg broken by the bullet, 
but the " Capitan,'^ as he turned out to be, whose 

horse G had shot, was only a little stunned 

by his fall, and soon recovered. Him we bound 
like his companions, and tied the whole to our 
different stirrup leathers : the wounded man being 
assisted on to his own horse. In this order we 
proceeded to the village, at which we were going 
to breakfast, situated a few leagues from the town 



104 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

of Leon, our halting-place for the night, and one 
day's march from Guanajuato. 

On arriving at the village already alluded to, 
we rode to the house of the ^' Alcalde/' or mayor, 
and enquired for that functionary. A long delay 
ensued, and his people were apparently searching 
diligently for him, but though time enough had 
elapsed to search the place a dozen times over, 
no ^' Alcalde" could be found. At last, one of our 
German companions, who spoke Spanish well, 
inquired of a respectable-looking old man if he 
had no idea where the Alcalde was, and, after 
some hesitation, the old fellow answered, with a 
grin, '' Ahi esta el Alcalde, senores'^ (there is the 
Alcalde, gentlemen), pointing to the fellow tied to 

G 's stirrup leather, the leader of the robber 

band, and incredible as it may seem, so it was. 
This rascal, who was the chief magistrate of the 
place, who had power summarily to shoot robbers, 
when caught in the fact, was in the habit of turn- 
ing a knight of the road himself, and [making a 
living by robbery and murder. 

What should we do with him ? By the laws 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 105 

of the land we ought to have sent him to the 
nearest military post for immediate execution, 
but this was really such a ridiculous expose, and 
so thoroughly disgusted us with justice in the 
country, that we resolved to take the law into 
our own hands. Having been first promised his 
life if he told the whole truth, he confessed that 
he had robbed at intervals for years, making his 
magisterial office the excuse, when questioned, for 
riding about with a troup of armed ragamuffins 
at his heels. He also told us that he obtained 
information of our advent and numbers from the 
coachman of the diligence which had passed the 
day before, and that, with the nine men he took 
with him, he had made no doubt of our instant 
surrender, but that when we fired on them, and 
two of their number fell, the rest lost heart and 
ran away, not being accustomed to receive such 
treatment. 

We now held a sort of drum-head court martial 
on the whole four, the result of which was as 
follows : — 

Their horses and arms were confiscated, and 
subsequently given up by us to the authorities at 

p 6 



106 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Leon ; the owners were then stripped to the waist 
by our servants, tied to the cart tail, and each 
received five dozen lashes on the bare back, well 
laid on with a cat-o'-nine-tails, manufactured on 
the spot, the mozos performing upon them with 
right good will, and their yells and appeals for 
mercy testified to the eflSciency of the punish- 
ment. In addition to this the Alcalde was in- 
formed that he had better leave his office to take 
care of itself, and, with his companions, make 
himself scarce, as we should inform the authorities 
of Leon of the affair, and if found, in addition 
to losing his appointment, he would probably be 
accommodated with a yard of hemp for his pains. 
They were not long in taking the hint when 
released, all being well out of the place long be- 
fore we started. The friends of the wounded man 
came for him, and carried him off likewise, being 
permitted by us to take his horse to carry him 
upon. I may add that on making our report at 
Leon the next day we were severely censured for 
not either bringing the prisoners there with us or 
shooting them on the spot ourselves, which would 
have been justified by the law. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 107 

Our horses were now so mucli knocked np that 
we decided on taking the diligence to Mexico, 
which we did from Guanajuato, the end of the 
following day's journey, leaving them and the 
majority of our baggage to follow with the 
mozos. 

Guanajuato is a very considerable city, being 
celebrated for the number of silver mines in its 
neighbourhood, most of which are worked by 
English companies. There is also a large trade 
there, with the north, in cotton and other produce, 
as it is the meeting point of the roads from that 
district either towards the Atlantic or Pacific 
coasts, and the city of Mexico, We received 
much kindness and civility from Mr. Glass, the 
English Consul, who did all in his power to make 
oifr short stay there pleasant. 

On entering the diligence at three a.m., on the 
morning of our departure, we were surprised to 
find that all the party who had been robbed were 
to be our fellow passengers, including the abbess, 
nuns, and the old priest who escorted them ; the 
latter was a Frenchman, but spoke English per- 



108 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

fectly, and proved himself a highly educated and 
well informed man, and a most pleasant com- 
panion. 

The " fighting " portion of these unfortunates 
accounted for their non-resistance to the robbers 
by each saying that he would have fought if all 
the others would ; but that it was useless doing 
so unless all acted in concert. It appeared there 
was a division of opinion among them, the main 
argument on the non-resisting side being the 
presence of the ladies, whom they apparently 
considered were more gallantly served by being 
permitted to be robbed and insulted than by 
having to undergo the fright of hearing a few 
pistol shots, which no doubt would have put the 
robbers to flight. 

On the second morning the passengers in the 
diligence were much alarmed by ^the report of a 

shot on the roof of the coach. It was G , 

who had knocked over a hare, which was much 
enjoyed at supper time. It crossed the road just 
in front of the two leading horses (the team con- 
sisting of eight) as they were in full gallop, and 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 109 

the jolting of the coach being very great it was 
considered a grand exploit, especially by the 
Mexicans, who are very indifferent sportsmen. 

After four days, sixteen hours in each of which 
were spent in the dreadful diligence, by turns in- 
tensely cold in the mornings and evenings, 
scorched to death by the sun in the day, often 
jolted off our seats as the horses galloped over 
the roughest parts of the road, and always stifled 
with dust, to say nothing of being half the day 
in a state of semi-starvation, as nothing to eat 
could be obtained, except the chocolate, before 
starting, until the mid-day halt, and then only 
half-an-hour was allowed for dinner. We at 
length arrived at seven o'clock in the evening at 
the end of our journey, the city of Mexico, and 
took up our quarters at the Hotel Iturbide, 
named after that ill-fated emperor whose fate, 
in 1824, was so strongly similar to that of the 
universally beloved and ever to be lamented 
Maximilian, the only other Emperor Mexico ever 
had, except Montezuma, who reigned over the 
Aztecs and Indians from 1502 till the conquest 
by Cortes in 1521. 



110 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

I will endeavour to give a description of this 
lovely city, so gifted by nature in climate, the 
fruitfalness of its neighbourhood, and everything 
to make man happy, and encourage pursuits of 
peace ; but whose annals are one continual suc- 
cession of anarchy and bloodshed. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. Ill 



CHAPTER VII. 

I CANNOT better commence than with the hotel 
Iturbide, which is by far the largest in the coun- 
try, and is, as before stated, named after the 
emperor of that name, it having been his im- 
perial palace, and quite worthy of the purpose 
for which it was built. It is very superior to the 
ungainly factory-like building which at present 
serves as the residence of the head of the govern- 
ment. Its main entrance is in the " Calle San 
Francisco," the principal street of the city, the 
front occupying nearly a whole square of build- 
ings from one street to another; you drive in 
under a large archway, and find yourself in a 
spacious quadrangle five stories high, having ver- 
andahs all round, into which the different apart- 
ments open. The solid masonry and handsome 
carving which adorn the walls, and the general 
good taste with which the whole exterior is em- 



112 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

bellislied_, are very striking, and show that the 
Mexicans, when it was built, were quite as far 
advanced in architecture as the inhabitants of 
European countries. 

Leading from this square is another archway 
communicating with a second quadrangle, very 
similar to the first, being also surrounded by bal- 
conies and suites of apartments ; the lower part 
is occupied by the excellent baths of the esta- 
blishment, and the '* boliche," or skittle alley — a 
very favourite resort among Mexicans — and from 
this again another archway leads to a third court, 
in which are the stables, diligence offices, &c., 
&c., the upper portion serving as dwellings for 
the numerous employes of the hotel, and at the 
end of this third court are the back gates by 
which we entered in the diligeace on the night of 
our arrival. 

There is a restaurant attached to the hotel kept 
by two Frenchmen, brothers, but it is quite op- 
tional to take your meals there or not ; it is a 
large, commodious room, well fitted up, where 
can be obtained breakfast or dinner d la carte at 
any hour, the usual charge being a dollar and a 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 113 

half fdr the former, and two dollars for the latter, 
but should you require a special repast the pro- 
prietors can place you a dinner on the table that 
would not disgrace a first-class Paris establish- 
ment. Arrangements, however, could at the 
time referred to be made by the month, at from 
thirty to thirty-five dollars, which included 
breakfast and dinner ; these were the usual terms 
in all the first-class restaurants of the city. A 
bottle of vin ordinaire costs a dollar ; of English 
beer (pint) six reals, or three shillings English, 
and a quart bottle of beer, made in Mexico, two 
reals ; other liquors in proportion. The Mexican 
beer is not bad ; there are several breweries kept 
by Frenchmen and Germans, and one by an 
Englishman named Blackmore, whose beer, it is 
hardly necessary to say, is the best, and is really 
very tolerable, having quite as much strength and 
body as English ale. There are also a cafe 
and billiard- room attached to the hotel kept by a 
New Orleans Frenchman, who showed great 
energy and spirit in his endeavours to please his 
customers. Apartments can be had from six dol- 
lars a month up to one hundred, depending, of 



114 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

course, on their size, furniture, and position. 
Some of the larger suites, which formerly com- 
posed the Imperial apartments of Iturbide, are 
very splendid, handsomely furnished and well 
kept, and would not disgrace any hotel in Europe. 

The rent paid for your rooms includes nothing 
else except lights, which are limited, no at- 
tendance being given, except for the necessary 
offices of bed-making, cleaning, &c. ; any out- 
side work, such as boot-cleaning, messages, &c., 
must be arranged for privately with the mozo 
who attends on your room, who, for a dollar or 
two per month, will be always at your beck and 
call. 

There are no public sitting rooms, and fires in 
your private apartments are unknown, indeed 
there are no fire-places, the beautifully even tem- 
perature of the valley of Mexico never being 
cold enough to render them requisite or hot 
enough to breed a mosquito. 

A book is kept at all hotels in the country, 
in which each new arrival is required to enter his 
name and those of his family, for the informa- 
tion of the Commissioner of Police. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 115 

Would that I could give a description of the 
sight that first met my eyes on ascending to the 
" Azotea," or roof of the building, the morning 
after our arrival, but it requires a painter's brush 
to do so. 

The extensive city lay immediately beneath, 
with its straight and well-built streets, the prin- 
cipal ones all leading from the ^' Plaza de las 
asmas " to the more distant parts. The large 
handsome Plaza, on one side of which is the 
magnificent old Cathedral, two others being oc- 
cupied by the Imperial palace, and the '' casa 
municipal," or town hall. At a little distance 
off also was the *^ min^ria " or mining college, 
one of the finest buildings in the country, and in 
beautiful relief to the crowded thoroughfares at 
the end of the Calle San Francisco lay the splen- 
did " alameda " or public park, with its gardens, 
parterres and magnificent old trees, through 
which might be seen the glistening fountains 
which are scattered about it. 

The din of church bells which were then ring- 
ing for matins was not necessary to point out 
their whereabouts, as numbers of these could be 



116 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

distinctly seen, also the fine Cathedral of " Our 
Lady of Guadaloupe," about three miles from 
where I stood ; indeed, were all the houses to be 
taken away, the churches and monasteries alone 
would form a very decent-sized city. 

A little further on the different garitas and 
roads to the interior of the country were discern- 
ible, and the far-famed paseo or public drive, 
three miles in length, and shaded on each side 
by splendid trees, appeared just at that moment 
thronged with carriages of all descriptions, and 
gaily-dressed equestrians in every conceivable 
costume. Far in the distance were the chains of 
hills, by which the rich valley of Mexico is sur- 
rounded, while at their feet, and approaching 
close to the city, no less than three lakes were 
visible ; indeed it is an historical fact that Cortes 
first attacked Mexico in 1521, with a flotilla of 
gun-boats from these lakes, which then reached 
much nearer to the city than at the present 
day. 

It was after the capture that the bailding of 
the present city commenced. 

The grand old palace of Chapultapec should 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 117 

not be omittedj standing on a high eminence, 
about a mile and a half distant, in a beautiful 
and very tastefully laid oat little park, which 
had been much improved by the Emperor Maxi- 
milian. It is built in the castellated style, and 
is strongly fortified, having made a glorious re- 
sistance to the Yankee troops under General 
Scott, when, being at the time the cadet college, 
it was garrisoned by those young gentlemen and 
about ^ve hundred Irishmen who had deserted 
from the American army. When one outwork 
after another had been rendered untenable by 
the enemy's artillery, the cadets at length 
hauled down their flag in token of surrender 
which was instantly hauled up again by their 
Celtic allies, and after this manoeuvre had been 
repeated several times the place was at last car- 
ried at the point of the bayonet, and all the 
Irishmen immediately hung. Looking at it from 
where I stood with a view of the long, straight 
drive which the Empeior had lately constructed 
to it from the paseo, it reminded me very forcibly 
of Windsor Castle in miniature. 

The grand features, however, in this magnifi- 



118 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

cent panorama, were the two snow-clad volcanoes 
of Popocatapet'l, 17,725 feet above the level of 
the sea, and Iztaccihaut'l, 15,700, towering high 
above the other mountains. When the sun is 
shining they appear to be immediately over- 
hanging the city, though really distant from it 
more than eighty miles. 

Altogether the scene was fair to look upon, and 
very gladdening to the eyes of a weary traveller 
like myself. Little could anyone have imagined 
when thus contemplating it that the very spot he 
then beheld had so lately been the scene of civil 
war and bloodshed, and was so soon to witness 
the same in more diabolical forms than ever. 

On a more close inspection, however, traces of 
the many revolutions with which the country 
had been convulsed were only too evident. 
Houses in many parts were completely covered 
with bullet marks, while in some places the more 
serious damages caused by shot and shell were 
visible. The great absence of windows before 
alluded to is also the result of these occurrences, 
rendering the houses more capable of defence. 
Crosses also were to be seen on the road- side 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 119 

almoKst every few yards, indicating the spot 
where murders had been committed, and not un- [ 
frequently also where' the murderers had been / 
subsequently shot. 

The following extract from my diary during a 
short expedition I subsequently made to " do " 
the larger volcano may be interesting to my 
readers, though I did not see so many wonders 
as some travellers state to have beheld : — 

Saturday, May 12th.--G— - and I left Mexico 
at five a.m. by diligence for Amecameca ; we two, 
and an old fellow with whom we had scraped an 
acquaintance, and who turned out to be an 
apothecary at Amecameca, had the diligence all 
to ourselves. The road is the same for the first 
few leagues as that to Puebla. Soon after pas- 
sing Ayotla we turned off to the right (south) 
through the town of Chalco, where we stopped 
to breakfast, then skirted the wooded slopes of 
Iztaccihaut'l, and by a slight rise, reached the 
plain of Amecameca, which is separated from 
the valley of Mexico by low extinct volcanic 
craters. The town, generally called Ameca, is 
situated at about an equal distance from the two 



120 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

volcanoes, about two leagues due west from their 
base. Close to the town, on the west, is a little 
hill some five hundred feet high, called the 
Monte Sacro. On arriving, at five p.m., we 
went at once to the house of the " Administrador " 
or overseer of the sulphur works, which are sit- 
uated in the crater of Popocatapet'l, Don Ignacio 
Eeyes, who received us civilly when we stated that 
we were not Frenchmen ; he gave us a large room 
to sleep in, which contained two beds at one end, 
two small tables in the middle, and thirty-four 
chairs all placed round the walls. Don Lorete, 
the son of our host, a stout fellow of about forty, 
appears to be the active administrador of the 
mines; he goes up to pay them a visit about 
twice a week, and promised to take us with him 
on Monday, and to procure us horses and pro- 
visions. 

Sunday, May 13th. — Having made arrange- 
ments for horses and *' peones " (labourers), to be 
ready to-morrow morning, G — — and I, not being 
invited to the table of our host, set off" through 
the town in search of a *^ fonda," or restaurant ; 
we found one in the plaza, where we took choco- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 121 

late, and ordered dinner for two o'clock. Having 
nothing better to do, as it was too hot to walk 
about, we went back to Don Ignacio's, turned off 
the cocks and hens which had taken possession of 
our beds, and slept till dinner time. After dinner 
we strolled about the town, and went up the 
" Sacro Monte." It is covered with trees, and 
has stone steps, with Stations of the Cross at 
every few yards, leading to a platform at the top, 
on which stands a chapel, dedicated to '' Nuestra 
Senora de Guadaloupe." Half-way down, on the 
south side, is another chapel, containing a reclin" 
ing image of " Nuestro Senor del Sacro Monte," 
both of which seem to be in considerable repute, 
if one may judge from the number of votive 
tablets with which the entrances are adorned, 
representing, in very original perspective, dili- 
gences upset, carriages stuck in the mud, horses 
running away or stolen, men attacked by robbers, 
haystacks or houses on fire, sick people in bed, 
&c., &c., with the Virgin of Guadaloupe, or 
^' Nuestro Senor del Sacra Monte," as the case 
may be, appearing in the clouds to the rescue. 
We lay down under a tree on the top of the 



122 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

hill, smoked and enjoyed the panorama at our 
feet, with the two volcanoes in the back ground. 
The town looks pretty from this distance, as it 
covers a good deal of ground, the houses being 
interspersed with gardens. At dark we went 
back and made tea, to which we invited Don 
Loreto, in order to draw him out a bit. 

Monday, May 1 4th. — We got off at about nine 
o'clock, having a ride of only ^ve leagues to do 
before reaching the rancho of Flamacas, where 

we are to sleep to-night. G , Don Loreto, 

and I, went on horseback, and a peon trotted on 
foot, carrying an Alpine stick which I had made in 
Mexico, and leading a horse laden with provisions, 
clothes, &c. The first part of our road was the 
same as that by which Cortes originally descended 
into the valley of Mexico, namely, the pass 
between the two volcanoes. It lay through mag- 
nificent pine forests, consisting chiefly of the 
^* ocote," or pitch pine. Before getting to the top 
of the pass, across which runs a bridle path to 
Puebla, we edged off rather to the right, towards 
the foot of Popocatapet'l. About three o'clock, 
just as a strong chilling drizzle was coming on, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 123 

we reached Flamacas. The '^ rancho " consists of 
two miserable sheds, one for purifying sulphur, 
and the greater part of the other for mules, with 
a small lean-to at one end, for the solitary Indian 
family who live there. It is between twelve and 
thirteen thousand feet above the level of the sea, 
and just under the last pine trees. 

We were glad enough to get to any shelter, as 
the height and proximity to the snow made it 
bitterly cold. The part of the hut devoted to 
human accommodation was a wretched little hole 
attached to the stable, about twelve feet by eight, 
with a fire in the middle, and a hole in the roof 
to let the smoke out, but which also let in the 
rain plentifully, and wetted the petates, which 
were spread for our bed. We had to get some 
logs thick enough to keep clear of the mud ; on 
these we put the only three planks we could find, 
and on them we spread the petates. We boiled 
in ajar a leg of mutton which we had brought 
with us, and made a supper off it, with bread, 
ham, and tortillas, and drank a bottle of wine, 
finishing up with tea and brandy and "puros" 

(cigars). G and I then lay down on our 

G 2 



124 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

boards, keeping on our goatskin " chaparreras" 
(leggings) for warmth, and covering ourselves 
with serapes, with our waterproof on the top, to 
keep out the rain, which kept streaming in at 
various holes. Don Loreto and the peon got 
into the corner ^ and the old Indian woman and a 
girl were somewhere in the hut, the old lady get- 
ting up every half-hour or so to look after the 
fire, which was kept going all night. 

Tuesday, May 15th. — At 4*30 a.m. we turned 
cut, and tried to unstiffen our joints, and at five, 
after taking tea with a little brandy in it, but 
nothing to eat, we began the ascent. We started 
on horseback, taking two peons, one to lead back 
the horses, and the other to go up with us. 
We were nearly two hours in crossing the black 
volcanic sand that separates the limit of vegeta- 
tion from the region of eternal snow. At seven 
o'clock we reached the snow and dismounted, to 
the great relief of our poor horses, which had 
been labouring painfully through the soft sand, 
at this great elevation. I wore English shooting 
boots, black leather gaiters, as I could not walk in 
my heavy chaparreros, two flannel shirts, a 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 125 

Mexican jacket with a knitted woollen one over it, 
a woollen passe montagne covering all my head, 
except my eyes, nose, and mouth, smoke-colonred 
spectacles, a broad brimmed Mexican hat, and my 
head stuck through a small serape. Two pairs of 
gloves and an Alpine stick completed my outfit. 
Yet with all this I did not suffer from the weight 
of my clothes. We were most fortunate in hav- 
ing a clear morning, and had magnificent views 
over the valleys of Puebla, Mexico, and Cuer- 
navaca, including the peak of Orizava, the Cofre 
de Perote and Malinche, on the east, and the 
Nevada de Toluca, and Ajusco on the west, we 
could distinctly see the cities of Mexico and Puebla 
from the same point. Clouds came on, however, 
when we got half-way up. The ascent was ren- 
dered very fatiguing by a fall of snow last night, 
which prevented our seeing where it was hard 
enough to put one's foot without sinking in up to 
the knees. Every few steps we had to stop to 
take breath, and it was difficult and painful to 
fill the lungs. The snow was frozen into small 
pinnacles from four to eight feet high, standing 
a foot or two from each other. From odo to 



126 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

anotlier of these we had to step, often slipping 
into the soft snow between, from which we had to 
extricate ourselves by a vigorous effort. 

The snow on Popocatapet'l is of no great thick- 
ness, and consequently there are no blue glaciers, 
and none of those crevices which are so dan- 
gerous on the Alps. From this circumstance 
geologists argue that the mountain is of much 
later formation than that of Orizava, which is of 
the same height, but which has large and deep 
glaciers. The pain in the chest, from not being 
able to get enough air at a breath to inflate the 
lungs, was so great, that I was very nearly 
giving it up when within a few hundred yards of 
the top ; but I persevered, and by stopping a 
minute or two after every four or five steps, ] 
managed, after five hours of the hardest work I 
had ever had in my life, to get to the lowest lip of 
the crater, which is on the eastern side, and about 
eight hundred feet below the highest peak, which 
is on the opposite side. 

The Indian, who kept his feet from the snow 
by tying them up with a string in a square of 
flannel, led me about sixty or seventy feet down 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 127 

the crater, to a ledge of rock where the " mala- 
cate" is fixed, a rude wooden windlass, fastened 
with ropes to the rocks, by which the men who 
dig the sulphur are let down to the bottom. 
From twelve to sixteen peones work inside the 
crater for twenty or thirty or forty days, accord- 
ing to agreement, and then the works stand still 
for a fortnight, or more. These men sleep inside 
the crater the whole time, the only danger they 
incur being from the stones falling from the 
walls of it. Since 1849, when the mines first 
commenced to be worked, to 1 866, about twenty 
men have been killed in this way. The sulphur 
is found in two states, namely, the ^' flor," which 
is almost pure, and requires no preparation for 
the market, and the metal, in which the sulphur 
is mixed with lava, &c., and requires smelting. 
The works produce from fifty to eighty quintals 
a month ; a quintal equals one hundred pounds, 
and sells in Puebla for fourteen dollars. Euro- 
pean sulphur costs there sixteen dollars. From 
the rock where we stood we could see to the 
bottom of the crater. There were several holes, 



128 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

from which steam issued, and a continuous noise, 
like the roaring of a waterfall. 

In coming down I sat on my serape, and was 
dragged over the snow by the Indian, as soon as 
we had got past the only three crevices which 
exist, which are only a few feet wide and from ten 
to twelve feet deep, at the bottom of which there 
is a little ice to be seen. We descended to the 
rancho in one hour, a distance which had taken 
us seven to go up. We made a good meal there, 
and rode down to Ameca in the afternoon, 
which we reached at dark, very tired and 
hungry. 

We returned to Mexico next day by diligence ; 
our faces and lips were in a miserable state from 
the peeling of the skin, and our eyes a little 
bloodshot; beyond this we experienced no bad 
effects, such as bleeding at the nose, &c. 

Popocatapet'l was first ascended by some of 
the companions of Cortes, and a graphic account 
of the difficulties they encountered is given in the 
pages of '^ Herrera," and other Spanish chro- 
niclers. Since then, until the present century, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 129 

no ascent was made, and doubt was even thrown 
upon the veracity of the old chroniclers. The 
first person who ascended in modern times was 
Mr. Frederick Glennie, till lately the British 
Consul in Mexico, who went up the western, and 
much more difficult side, to the highest tip of 
the crater, about the year 1828. The credit of 
having been the first to make the ascent has 
been claimed for others, who accomplished it 
subsequently, but Mr. Glennie's claim is sub- 
stantiated by an account published in the Mexican 
papers at the time. 

The Calle San Francisco, in which the Hotel 
Iturbide is situated, is a very fine street, con- 
taining many beautiful shops, cafes, &c., many 
of which are quite equal to those in many Euro- 
pean cities. There are also several other good 
hotels, among which may be noticed the " Na- 
tional,'' '' San Carlos," " Bazar," &c., the latter 
having a beautiful restaurant attached, tastefully 
laid out in a garden, something in the *' Cre- 
morne" style. A splendid block of buildmgs in 
the Calle " Flateros" (Street of the Silversmiths) 
also attracts attention. Here is the office of the 

G 5 



130 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Vera Cruz and Mexico Railway, and also of the 
English Gas Company, which latter are rapidly 
finishing their works. The fine church of the 
" Progressa" is also worthy of notice, being 
justly celebrated for its magnificent interior deco- 
rations and fine music. At the end of the main 
street is the " Plaza de las Armas," before 
alluded to, which occupies about five acres of 
ground, and was formerly merely paved, and a 
stand in the centre for the band to play at ; now, 
however, through the exertions of the late 
Emperor, the centre part is most tastefnlly laid 
out in gardens, watered by several elegant foun- 
tains, aud having comfortable seats dispersed at 
intervals for the accommodation of loungers, who 
come in the evening to listen to the band. 

The Cathedral on the left is, of course, the 
principal feature of the Square. It is a very 
magnificent structure, built by the Spaniards, 
500 feet in length by 420 feet broad ; it has two 
towers, though not of very great proportions, and 
consists of three enormous wings, each forming, 
as it were, a separate church, in each of which 
high mass is often celebrated at the same time. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILUJiT. 13 J 

ThQ organ loft and choir are very handsome, as 
is also the centre altar, which is surmounted by 
an immensely high canopy, magnificently carved, 
and ornamented with gold and silver, round the 
top of which are groups of male and female 
figures, in most fantastic and many coloured 
garments, as large as life, and beautifully exe- 
cuted. 

The passage from the choir to this centre altar 
is enclosed by solid silver rails, and the steps of 
the latter are of the same metal, which, strange 
to say, have escaped the cupidity of the soldiers 
of so many revolutions. Several of the other 
altars are also very handsome^ and the general 
adornment, pictures, &c., are as fine as in most 
Continental cathedrals. The whole building is 
of enormous extent, and the number of small 
chapels, altars, &c., is endless. The interior is 
also handsome, though it would puzzle anyone 
to say to what school of architecture it belongs. 
There is a very curious sun dial at the west side, 
one of the relics of the Aztecs, cut out of one 
enormous block of stone, the figures being all in 
the ancient Aztec characters. 



132 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

The Cathedral, T have no doubt, merits a very 
much better description than I can give it ; but 
it has already been so ably treated by Mr. Pres- 
cott, in his excellent work on Mexico, that I 
must refer those of my readers to him who wish 
an accurate account of it. 

On the east side of the Plaza is the Imperial 
Palace, an enormous white block of buildings, 
the whole of the south and west sides of which 
consisted of the Imperial apartments, the north 
and east being used as public offices ; the 
museum and national picture gallery are also 
situated on the north wing. There is one grand 
entrance in the centre, where, in the days of the 
Empire, a captain's guard was stationed, with 
other guards of different sizes, at the side and 
back entrances. The exterior is very plain in 
appearance, but after the Emperor's arrival, it 
was considerably improved, particularly in the 
inner court, which is surrounded by a beautiful 
corridor. At the head of the grand staircase, at 
the different doors leading to the Imperial apart- 
ments, were formerly postgd sentinels of the 
" Guardia Palatina," a corps of one hundred 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 133 

gentlemen, none of wliora were less than six feet 
in height, and dressed in a magnificent uniform, 
something resembling our Life Guards ; form- 
ing, in fact, the "Gentlemen-at-Arms" of His 
Majesty. They were commanded by Count 
Bom belles, who was assisted by a captain, two 
lieutenants, and two sub^lieutenants, who held 
respectively the ranks in the Mexican army of 
Colonels, Lt. -Colonels, and '^ Commandantes," or 
Majors, and who considered it a great honour to 
serve in this corps in the above-mentioned grades^ 

The Emperor had formed great hopes of bring- 
ing this corps to a high state of perfection, and 
even intended sending to England for large black 
horses to mount them on, all to be sixteen hands 
high as a minimum; but latterly, when funds 
began to fail, and his many misfortunes were 
^fathering thickly around him, he had the corps 
disbanded. 

His Majesty built a magnificent banqueting 
hall and ball room, forming an entirely new 
wing to the palace ; these, however, like many 
other of his works of improvement, were never 
destined to be enjoyed by himself. 



134 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

There is a large and tolerably furnislied suite 
of state reception rooms, in which are some very 
fine paintings ; and though in Juarez's time, who 
kept up, I believe, no establishment at all, the 
whole palace had been allowed to go to ruin and 
decay — still, one would have found on attending 
a levee or ball during the reign of the Emperor 
Maximilian, everything as well arranged (thanks 
to the exertions of Count SchaflPer, the chief of 
the household) as at many European courts. 

On the opposite side of the Plaza to the Cathe- 
dral is the " Palacio xMunicipal," or town hall, 
which is also the police court ; it is a fine build- 
ing, and the prefect's reception rooms are well 
furnished and handsome. Near the Plaza is also 
the " Plazuella de San Juan," in which is situ- 
ated the"aduana," or custom-house. The former 
is now celebrated for the number of merciless 
executions which took place there in 1867, under 
the bloody Juarez. Leading from the east end 
of the Plaza is the market place, a very large 
enclosure, fitted up with stalls and booths, where 
can be bought all the year round every descrip- 
tion of fruit, vegetables, poultry, game, &c., the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 135 

supply being very good, consisting of cabbages, 
cauliflowers, asparagus, green peas, beans, salads, 
&c., while apples, pears, strawberries, cherries, 
and peaches, are equally abundant. Every de- 
scription of tropical fruit is also there, a con- 
stant supply arriving daily from the **tierra 
caliente," or hot country. Poultry is very plen- 
tiful and cheap ; good fowls from 6d. to Is. each ; 
ducks a little more, except wild ducks, which 
cost only 3d. ; turkeys, from six reals (3s. English) 
to a dollar. Game is also abundant in season ; 
rabbits, hares, partridges, snipe, and the cele- 
brated bird called the ganga, a species of golden 
plover, found only in the rainy season, and most 
delicious eating. 

The great want felt is fish, none being pro- 
curable but some of diminutive size from the 
neighbouring lakes, and they are very soft and 
bony. It is a curious fact that when Cortes was 
in the city after his conquest he had fresh fish on 
his table every day, brought from the coast by 
Indian runners who were stationed every mile 
along the road, but now upwards of three hun- 
dred years later it cannot be had ; the railway is 



136 MEXICO UNDEK MAXIMILIAN. 

not sufficiently advanced and Indians are too 
scarce. Some few years ago an Englishman 
tried to supply the market with fish, packed in 
ice at Vera Cruz, and brought in light carts with 
relays of horses all along the road, but owing to 
the bad state of the latter his carts were per- 
petually breaking down, and their freight con- 
sequently wasted, and little more than a year 
served to ruin the poor fellow. 

There is a very good supply of ice in the city 
brought from the two volcanoes, and also from 
one or two steam manufactories which have 
lately been established. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 137 



CHAPTER YIII. 

At the risk of wearying my readers I coatinuo 
my description of the city of Mexico and its en- 
virons. As I have to describe so many impor- 
tant and thrilling events which occurred there, it 
is indispensable that the position and other pecu- 
liarities of its different suburban dependencies 
should be pointed out. 

Proceeding in a. north- westerly direction from the 
Grand Plaza for about a mile and a half through 
a straight though dirty and ill-paved street you 
arrive at the " Garitta de Guadaloupe," close to 
which is the pulque exchange and custom-house, 
at which growers and dealers meet daily for the 
transaction of business, and where also the town 
duties on that very favourite beverage are col- 
lected. It is almost incredulous the quantity of 
this article which daily enters the city, variously 
estimated at from thirty thousand to fifty thou- 



138 MEXICO UKDER MAXIMILIAN. 

sand arobas (an aroba, twenty-five pounds,) and 
pays six reals duty at the garita, selling in 
Mexico at two-and-a-half dollars. 

Passing out of the garita, the town and 
splendid cathedral of Guadaloupe break into 
view, the road to which is one straight line of 
about two miles in length, running between rows 
of tall trees, having the railroad on the left, and 
the commencement of the lake of San Christobal 
on the right. 

On arriving at the town, where there is a rail- 
way station, you are at once struck by the air of 
extreme poverty and dullness which pervades the 
whole place ; it would seem that the inhabitants 
spent all their money and energies on their mag- 
nificent cathedral, dedicated to *^ Nuestra Senora 
de Gruadaloupe," the origin of which, they state, 
was as follows : — 

Several centuries ago a certain Indian, named 
Juan Diego, in passing a small image of the 
virgin placed on the top of a little hill, which is 
situated just behind the present cathedral, 
stopped to offer up his prayers. In the midst of 
his devotions the Virgin suddenly appeared to 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN, 139 

him, when he instantly fell with his face to the 
ground. She commended his religious zeal, and 
told him that henceforth this spot should be the 
especial place of worship of his race, and that 
moreover she would give them a spring of life, 
the waters of which would heal the diseases and 
infirmities of all true believers who drank of 
them. She then vanished as suddenly as she had 
come. On looking about him, Juan Diego per- 
ceived at the foot of the hill a beautiful spring of 
water and a little chapel, both of which had 
come into existence during his vision, while on 
his serape, which was wound round his shoulders 
at the time, was a picture of the virgin, who had 
so lately appeared to him, indelibly engraved on 
the stuff in bright and beautiful colours. 

The present cathedral was built on the site, or 
rather added to this chapel, and the spring, which 
has a strong mixture of sulphur in its water, is 
now enclosed by a little shrine, and eagerly sought 
to this day by the sick, halt, and maimed, as a 
remedy for present diseases, and also by many in 
good health as a preventative against future 
illness. 



140 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

The Serape of Juan is still hung up in the 
cathedral, handsomely framed and glazed, and 
appears to be of the same description as those 
made at this period. The picture, which is evi- 
dently done by some peculiar process, is beautiful 
considering the rough material — half wool, half 
cotton— on which it was executed, and preserves 
its bright colours wonderfully. It is held in great 
veneration by the Indian population, who come 
often two or three hundred miles on foot to pay 
their devotions or bring their offerings of either 
produce or money to " Nuestra Senora de Guada- 
loupe," and it is through them that the funds of 
the Cathedral are so rich and flourishing. It is, 
without exception, the handsomest I have ever 
seen; the altar steps and railings are of solid 
silver, and the images of saints and other orna- 
ments of pure gold ; the virgin herself is of the 
latter metal, beautifully ornamented with pre- 
cious stones, and her dress is one complete mass 
of the most costly jewels, which have been added 
from time to time as new donations arrived. 

There was a lottery every fortnight in Mexico, 
at a dollar a ticket, with prizes, from 3,000 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 141 

dollars downwards, for the sole benefit of the 
Virgin of Guadaloupe, which alone legitimately- 
brought in a revenue of upwards of 2,000 dollars 
each fortnight, besides the curious fact that hardly 
anyone was ever known to draw the large prize, 
it being said that the priests so arranged matters 
that the Virgin herself always had the winning 
ticket. 

I may here mention the universal love of the 
Mexican people for all games or speculations of 
chance. The lottery just described was by no 
means the only or the largest one in the city. 

The great lottery of the Havanna takes place 
monthly, and in addition to the grand prize of 
100,000 dollars (£20,000) it also contains upwards 
of two hundred smaller ones, varying from 25,000 
dollars to fifteen dollars. It is under the auspices 
of the local government, and the drawing, which 
takes place under the surveillance of the police, 
is conducted with perfect fairness. Many of the 
large mercantile houses in the United States, as 
well as in Mexico, invest considerable sums an- 
nually in the purchase of tickets, for the sale of 
which there are numerous agents, and the invest- 



142 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

ment is frequently found a very fortunate one. 
Many friends of mine, who took tickets regularly 
and systematically, were considerable gainers. 
There were also several small lotteries in the 
capital, besides those already mentioned, which 
were humble imitations of them ; some took 
place even daily, so rapid was the sale of tickets. 
They commenced at a half real (threepence) per 
ticket, the highest prize being 250 dollars. The 
vendors of tickets infested every corner of the 
streets, pestering you to buy them, always de- 
claring they want to sell el ultimo^ the last one. 

The national game of cards is called " Monte ;" 
it is, I believe, a species of "blind hookey," 
though how played I cannot precisely describe. 
It is, however, the darling pastime of every rank 
in society, from the millionaire to the poorest 
Indian. I once saw an old man and woman of 
the latter race, who had just been completely 
'* cleaned out " by a " professional " on the road 
side, just outside the garita. They had been to 
the city to sell matting, the fruit of several 
months' labour, and returning with the money in 
their pockets fell victims to the wayside sharper, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 143 

who temptingly displayed his pack of cards as 
they were passing. At the moment I came up 
they were both in tears at their ill-luck, and the 
man who had fleeced them was telling them, by 
Way of consolation, to bring three times as much 
money the next time, as no one could win at 
Monte with the small capital with which they had 
started. 

There was formerly at the village of Clalpham, 
^we leagues distant from the capital, an annual 
gambling fair or carnival, which lasted a fort- 
night. To this flocked the whole metropolitan 
population, from the highest to the lowest ; all 
who could collect a few dollars went. Haciendados 
also would leave their property to take care of 
itself, and taking all their ready money, fly to 
the seductions of the monte table. Many of the 
leading Mexican houses of business, as well as 
private individuals of fortune, had *' banks '* 
there, though generally carried on under fictitious 
names at some of these. The smallest stake 
allowed was five ounces, which are the largest 
Mexican coin, value sixteen dollars (or £3 4s.), 
though in England, I believe, their standard 



144 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

value is like that of the Spanisli doubloon, 
£3 6s. 8d. I once saw a Mexican at one of those 
banks who had been playing high and losing 
steadily. At last he staked all the remaining gold 
he had, amounting to one thousand five hundred 
ounces, on one card. He lost, and as the croupier 
was raking it in he rolled and lighted a cigarette, 
and turning to the man next to him said — " Do 
me the favour to lend me half a dollar to get 
some breakfast. I am hungry, and I have not a 
cent left." Five minutes afterwards I saw him 
eating his breakfast with great relish and apparent 
unconcern. This fair, as well as the lotteries and 
all other gambling institutions, are now done 
away with, as the Government of Juarez does 
not permit them. 

The Vera Cruz and Mexico railroad is justly 
considered one of the wonders of the age, the 
history of which is briefly as follows : — 

Don Antonio Escandon, one of the richest 
capitalisLS in Mexico, possessing a commission 
from the Juarez Government, and having executed, 
in a very imperfect manner, about thirty five miles 
of line out of Vera Cruz, brought, in 1864, the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 145 

concession to France, where some promoters of 
such eaterprises, having influence in England , 
prevailed upon a number of capitalists to take it 
up. A company was formed, and, the empire 
being now established, was called the Imperial 
Mexican Eailroad Company. 

Mr. Escandon was to receive £1,400,000 for 
his interest, and for the very imperfectly con- 
structed portion of the line then in existence, 
which was probably worth about £200,000 ; an 
excellent arrangement for him, as it was at once 
found that the concession was worthless without 
the confirmation of the Imperial Government, 
and this was only obtained in 1865, after which 
the works were commenced, under a contract 
with Messrs. Smith, Knight, and Co., who sub- 
sequently transferred it to Mr. G. Crawley, by 
whom, in spite of great difficulty, eighty-seven 
miles of line were ultimately opened from Mexico 
to Apisaco. Before, however, this had been done 
the means of thejcompany had become exhausted, 
through the non-payment by the Imperial Govern - 
ment of their stipulated quota, and the contractor, 

H 



146 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

not being paid, was compelled to suspend his 
works. 

The line is to be three hundred miles in length, 
of which, in 1868, about one hundred and thirty- 
four miles were open for traffic, while a ^reat 
deal of progress had been made with the remainder ; 
in fact, one half of the work had been done. The 
line passes from Vera Cruz, by Paso del Macho, 
through Cordova, Orizava, Huamantla, Ap-am, 
and Otumba, to Mexico, and communicates with 
Puebla by a branch of thirty miles in length. 
The principal features in the works are the 
Maximilian bridge of three spans, of three 
hundred feet each, and three hundred and sixty 
feet in height, and an ascent at the Cumbres of 
twenty-five miles in length, of one in twenty-five 
for the greater part of the distance ; the maxi- 
mum altitude of the line is eight thousand three 
hundred feet above the sea. 

There is also a railroad from Mexico to San 
Anjel, a small town about three leagues distant, 
passing the village of Tacubya, in which are the 
country seats of the wealthier inhabitants of the 
city, both foreigners and Mexicans. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 147 

It is a most beautiful little place, and is to 
Mexico very much like Yersailles is to Paris. It 
had formerly the advantage of an imperial resi- 
dence, the Palace of Chapultapec, which is within 
half a mile of the town. Tacubya is approached 
by another railroad, besides that one which goes 
to San Anjel, namely, one constructed hj the 
Imperial Mexican Company, running by the 
Alameda ; it was formerly worked by horses as the 
distance is so short, but I believe some large 
American cars, with what are called there dummy 
engines, attached, have lately arrived for it. The 
line to San Anjel is owned, and was constructed 
entirely by, a Mexican Company, who, by making 
it very gradually, and opening every mile for 
traffic as soon as completed, managed to realize 
very good dividends. It is the intention to ex- 
tend it to several towns in the valley of Mexico, 
but the late civil war stopped that and all other 
enterprises of the kind. Indeed, the large line, 
that from Yera Cruz, was, up to the end of 1868, 
in the greatest trouble, for in addition to having 
had the rails torn up and bridges destroyed by 
both Imperialists and Liberals by turns, when 

H 2 



148 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

peace was to a certain extent restored, and a 
Congress convened, it was made a party question 
by the opponents of Juarez, and session after 
session passed, but still the unfortunate Eailway 
Bill remained unpassed. Telegraphs have been 
extended to most of the principal cities and towns 
in the country, for which there are one or two 
private companies as well as the Government 
lines, but, of course, during the late events, all 
communication was cut off. 

San Anjel is a tolerable sized town, of great 
antiquity, and contains some very handsome old- 
fashioned residences, belonging formerly to old 
Spanish families ; but these, like their owners, 
have gradually decayed, and San Anjel now is a 
place of very little importance. Its chief attrac- 
tion is a large cotton factory, owned by an Eng- 
lish firm. 

The "Alameda" in Mexico, is well worthy of a 
visit. It is about thirty acres in extent, enclosed 
by substantial stone walls, and is very thickly 
timbered with every variety of the finest forest 
trees, intersected with numerous well-kept walks, 
which are shaded from the sun at all hours of the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 149 

day. Flower gardens and grass plots are dotted 
about, and several artificial pieces of water and 
fountains add much to the beauty of the scene. 

In the centre is a very well built stand, at 
which, during the time of the Empire, a military 
band, either French or Austrian, played three 
times a week, from eight o'clock in the morning 
till ten. This was at first very trying to the 
Mexican ladies, who are habitually very lazy and 
untidy in their habits ; they seldom had been 
accustomed to rise early, and never to make their 
toilets before the hour for the afternoon drive, a 
Tohe de chamhre, and the everlasting reboso thrown 
over the head, hiding the omission of a multitude 
of little unmentionable duties of the toilette, 
which European ladies would consider indispen- 
sable on rising. 

However, seeing that English, French, and 
German ladies could not only get up, but dress 
and look nice by eight in the morning, and also 
that the whole military world attended these 
morning al fresco concerts, the Mexicans also 
made the attempt. At first they used to look 
very sleepy, with their best clothes evidently 



150 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

huddled on tbem, but, by degrees, I suppose 
they became accustomed to it, and probably more- 
over there was a little feeling of emulation which 
induced them to try and rival their European 
sisters, whom they perceived always looked their 
best at this very trying hour of the day. At ten 
o'clock the band ceased, and all the world went 
home to breakfast, and I fear many of the Mexi- 
cans to bed again. 

The arrival of the Empress Carlotta in the 
capital, had been preceded by that of a number 
of French milliners, whose display of hats and 
bonnets was a great source of amusement and 
interested curiosity to the fashionable Mexican 
ladies, who had hitherto wisely never attempted 
anything more European in head gear than the 
graceful Spanish mantilla. However, upon the 
occasion of welcoming her Majesty to the capital 
of her new dominions, they prepared to do her 
honour by providing themselves with what they 
had learnt to consider such becoming additions to 
a perfect toilet, namely, Paris bonnets ; but, alas ! 
the effect was not that which they had hoped to 
produce. Their coiffures being as usual most 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 151 

extensive, with numerous frisettes, &c., not hav- 
ing themselves the most remote idea of adjusting 
their new head dresses, and in too much dread of 
ridicule to confess their ignorance to the modiste^ 
the majority of them presented such a ludicrous 
appearance, some even wearing their bonnets the 
reverse way, or, in other words, hind before, and 
all looking so uncomfortable and unhappy in their 
new purchases, that the risible nerves of the 
Empress were severely tried. 

A little beyond the Alameda is the bull ring — 
a very large building in the form of an amphi- 
theatre, covering nearly two acres of ground, and 
having no less than four tiers of boxes and seats ; 
the arrangements connected with it are much the 
same as those already described at Guadalajara, 
but on a larger scale. Facing the bull ring is 
the commencement of the celebrated " Paseo 
Nuevo," which is one long straight avenue of 
trees upwards of three miles in length ; the trees 
on either side are planted in double rows, and 
have now arrived at beautiful maturity, affording 
a splendid shade either to the occupants of 
carriages or equestrians. Here, every evening in 



152 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

the year, the beauty and fashion of iMexico come 
to drive or ride, and the number of gay equi- 
pages rivalled many European capitals. Numerous 
horsemen also thronged the drive in every style 
of Mexican costume, as well as the many bril- 
liant uniforms of the French, Austrian, and 
Imperial Services ; nor were equestrians of the 
fair sex unrepresented. As a rule, all the Euro- 
pean ladies rode, and, from the example set by 
Her Majesty the Empress, as well as by the ladies 
of the different legations, the Mexican ladies, 
who, notwithstanding the celebrated horsemen 
the male population have always been, were en- 
tirely unaccustomed to ride, made a vigorous 
effort to commence, and during the latter period 
of the Empire they made a very numerous and 
creditable appearance. 

The lazy habits of Mexican ladies before the 
period at present referred to may be gathered from 
the following, which a gentleman told me he wit- 
nessed in the year 1862. 

A handsomely-appointed carriage, containing 
two ladies (mother and daughter), was one after- 
noon upset in the paseo, and the occupants, who 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 153 

were not hurt, were assisted out of it. They had 
both most elaborate coiffures, rich silk dresses, 
splendid Spanish mantillas thrown over their 
heads, and their tiny hands encased in the best 
Paris kid gloves — but alas ! on stepping out of 
the carriage, two old pairs of bedroom slippers 
appeared, covering feet unencumbered by stock- 
ings, while the unavoidable display of petticoats, 
occasioned by the hurry in which they were ex- 
tricated from the carriage, indicated that the 
services of a laundress would have been very de- 
sirable. 

The chief amusements at night consisted of 
the theatres and opera : the latter is a very fine 
house, and during the season always had a first- 
rate Italian company, who performed three or 
four times a week. Boxes and stalls might be 
taken for the season at moderate prices. There 
were, also, a French and numerous Mexican 
theatres of various grades. 

I have now endeavoured to give a slight 

description of the city of Mexico, its environs, 

and inhabitants, as they were in the days of the 

Empire. I have, no doubt, failed in many in- 

H 5 



154 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

stances to do it justice, and to satisfy many of 
my readers, but those I must refer to far more 
able writers on tbe subject, of whom there are 
several. I have noted things down as I found 
them, and endeavoured to describe my own im- 
pressions of them, and must ask indulgence for 
any shortcomings I may be guilty of. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN, 155 



CHAPTER IX. 

I MUST now resume the narrative of my own per- 
sonal adventures in the country. I came, as has 
already been stated, with the purpose of entering 
the service of His Majesty the Emperor, and, as 
a preliminary step, I called upon Her Britannic 
Majesty's minister, and delivered to him my cre- 
dentials, with a request to be presented to his 
Imperial Majesty. With great kindness, his Ex- 
cellency promised to do so at an early date, and 
in less than a week I received a notification to 
attend at the Palace at twelve o'clock on the fol- 
lowing morning. G was included in the 

presentation, and the appointed time found us in 
a spacious apartment in the Palace, where several 
other persons, chiefly officers, were also waiting 
for audiences. 

The corridors and entrances to the different 
apartments were guarded by the splendid corps of 



156 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

the Guardia Palatina, in full uniform; while 
three of them, halberd in hand, were posted at a 
door in the apartment in which we were, which 
led to the audience chamber. Chamberlains, and 
other officers of the household, flitted to and fro 
between us and the Imperial apartments, some- 
tiDies summoning some eager aspirant to the 
presence, and always being assailed by a dozen 
others, anxious to know when their turn would 
come. 

M. Eloin, a countryman of Her Majesty the 
Empress, and Prime Minister to the Emperor, 
passed backwards and forwards several times with 
bundles of papers under his arm, showing that 
receiving visits of compliment was not the only 
occupation of His Majesty this morning. At 
length, after waiting about half an hour, the 
Chamberlain-in-waiting summoned us, much to 
the disgust of a number of French officers who 
had been waiting all the morning. 

His Majesty was standing near the window, 
and on our being announced, advanced and bowed 
politely to us both, and immediately commenced 
the conversation in French* 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 157 

There are so many portraits of the Emperor 
Maximilian circulated through Europe, that of 
course, all my readers are acquainted with his 
features, but perhaps few with the extreme 
sweetness of his expression. His eyes, which 
were of a bright china blue, beamed with kind- 
ness on whomsoever they rested, while when he 
smiled, displaying a beautiful set of teeth, his 
mouth gave an expression of amiability to his 

whole countenance beyond description. G 

at once told his Majesty, in his blunt English 
way, that he was sorry that he could neither 
speak French nor Spanish, to which the Emperor 
replied that Spanish was the tenth language he 
had acquired, and that it was so long since he 
had spoken English, that he had forgotten it ; 
the fact was, he did not like conversing in a lan- 
guage in which he felt he was not perfect, 
though, as I subsequently discovered, he spoke 
it very well indeed. He talked to us of our 
own country chiefly ; of the late Prince Consort, 
who, he said, was his greatest friend, and of 
whom he was an enthusiastic admirer, of the 



158 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Prince and Princess of Wales, the Crown Princess 
of Prussia and her baby, &c., &c., of ourselves, 
and, in fact, of everything likely to please and 
set us at our ease. He kept us chatting in this 
manner for more than half an hour, and on our 
intimating to him that we desired to enter his 
service, he appeared very much pleased, and said 
he would at once confer with the Minister for 
War upon the subject. At length when a pause 
in the conversation occurred, a significant bow 
intimated that the interview was over. 

Within a week of this date, we received an in- 
vitation to dine at the Palace, and as it was the 
first honour of the kind conferred upon us in 
Mexico, I think it merits a little description. 
The guests assembled in one of the state draw- 
ing-rooms ; they consisted of the major portion 
of the ministers and heads of departments. Mar- 
shal Bazaine, and a few other French and Mexi- 
can generals, the members of the Diplomatic 
Corps, Madame de Montholon, wife of the French 
minister, the ladies in waiting, and a few officers 
of lower ranks, chamberlains, equerries, &c. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 159 

Altogether there were about forty of us waiting 
in the reception room for their Majesties to make 
their appearance. 

At length the folding doors communicating with 
the next apartment were thrown open, and, pre- 
ceded by two chamberlains, and accompanied by 
Count Bombelles and Father Fischer (his old 
tutor and confessor), the Emperor, with his 
beautiful wife on his arm, entered the room. He 
was dressed in plain evening dress, with only 
the ribbon of the order of " Guadaloupe" in his 
button hole. Her Majesty wore a magnificent 
dress of white lace over white satin, trimmed with 
pearls, and a coronet of the same gems on her 
head, and with her handsome face, sweet expres- 
sion, and majestic figure, she looked every inch 
an Empress. Walking slowly through the lane 
formed for them by the assembled guests, and 
bowing graciously to all as they passed, they led 
the way to the banqueting hall, the Emperor 
conducting the Empress to her seat by the centre 
of the table, and then proceeding to take his own 
opposite to her. She was supported on the right 
by the French Ambassador, and on the left by 



160 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Marshal Bazaine, while Madame de Montholon 
and one of the ladies-in-waiting were on either 
side of the Emperor. A card, with each guest's 
name, was on the plate opposite the place des- 
tined for him, and I had the satisfaction of find- 
ing mine about four places from His Majesty on 
his left, from which I could see the Empress and 
hear the conversation of both distinctly. How 
shall I describe the dinner ? I know that it was 
excellent, and that the Imperial cook, who was 
a Hungarian, had acquitted himself most nobly. 

This man was, during the siege of Queretero, 
and subsequently during the Emperor's captivity, 
his sole body servant, and was the only European 
permitted to attend him at his execution. He 
proved a great comfort to his Majesty in prison, 
as guards who spoke Spanish, French, English, 
and German, were always in the room, but the 
"chef" could converse with his Majesty in 
Hungarian, and thus defeated the brutal espion- 
age of his captors. The Emperor left him a pen- 
sion for life by his will, amounting to £100 per 
annum. 

The number and variety of the difierent entrees 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 161 

would have delighted many European gourmands, 
while the large selection of choice wines was quite 
overwhelming. There were no less than fifteen 
different varieties, each of which was appointed 
to be drank with some particular dish, commenc- 
ing after the soup with some of the lighter vint- 
ages of the Rhine and France, while gradually, 
as the dinner proceeded, the immortal seals of 
Prince Metternich, the Widow Clicquot, and 
Roderer, were broken. Towards the conclusion 
of the meal, a variety of the finest wines of Hun- 
gary, both white and red, were handed round, 
and with the coffee an immense number of curious 
liqueurs (of which the Emperor was a great 
connoisseur) tempted the palate. We were at 
table about two hours and a half, during the 
whole of which a very spirited conversation was 
maintained by their Majesties with those guests 
who were near enough to enjoy the privilege. 

At length they rose, and we all left the dining 
room in the same order in which we had entered 
it, proceeding to a brilliantly illuminated suite 
of drawing rooms, where presentations were to 
take place. The guests here remained standing, 



162 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

in a kind of semicircle, around the Imperial 
pair, who, separating, each accompanied by a 
chamberlain, commenced making a tour of the 
company, His Majesty beginning at one end and 
the Empress at the other. It was here that the 
wonderful powers of diplomacy and adaptation 
possessed by the latter shone forth so brilliantly. 
Stopping, and exchanging a few sentences with 
each person she passed, speaking in their own 
language, no matter what it might be, she 
managed always to touch upon some subject 
nearest to the national pride or private interest 
of her hearer, and so nicely and kindly was her 
conversation addressed, that each one went away 
with the impression that not only was Her 
Majesty the most charming and affable of women, 
but also that her especial interest and favour 
were bestowed upon himself. 

The Imperial pair having at length concluded 
this rather laborious task, leaving everyone 
flattered and delighted at some mark of favour, 
withdrew, attended by the ladies and chamber- 
lains in waiting, and the guests soon after 
gradually dispersed. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 163 

Some time elapsed after the dinner, and we 
heard nothing of our promised appointments to 
the Imperial service, and were beginning to feel 
very uneasy and dissatisfied ; alas ! we had yet 
to learn the true meaning of Mexican intrigue 
and Mexican love of delay, as well as to become 
acquainted with all the counter currents con- 
tending in His Majesty's Government. After 
the lapse of some weeks we applied to the Sub 
Secretary for War — a very gentlemanly and 
agreeable fellow, who was afterwards sent on a 
mission to the Court of St. James's. 

He told us we should write a petition to His 
Majesty, stating our requests. This was done, 
and after applying at the ^^ Sub-Secretario" at 
intervals for another month, we were referred to 
His Majesty's Military Secretary, a French Staff 
Major. This gentleman denied all power to act 
in the matter, saying that it rested with the 
Minister of War to lay our petition before His 
Majesty. 

His Excellency was accordingly besieged, and 
at length assured us, with many smiles and pro- 
fessions of regard, that he was most anxious for 



164 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

our services, and had instructed His Majesty*s 
Military Secretary to lay our petitions before the 
Emperor. 

This game at hide and seek went on for several 
weeks longer, and G at last became so dis- 
gusted that he packed up his traps and started 
home for England. I stayed on ; I had come to 
reside for some time in Mexico, and whether 
employed or not I intended to remain. 

The Minister for War now resigned, and a 
French general succeeded him. My application 
had been for a command in the " Gendarmeria," 
a cavalry force composed of foreigners, and 
formed on the system of the French military 
** Gendarmerie," but whose energies were prin- 
cipally directed against political offenders, high- 
way robbers, &c. I had seen the Colonel, who 
assured me of his wish to have me in his regi- 
ment, and who told me that his belief was that 
the element I had to contend with was French ; 
in fact, that their national jealousy was excited 
at the idea of an Englishman being appointed to 
a high command in what was then termed the 
^' crack corps" of the service, and that my friend 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 165 

the Military Secretary had all along been play- 
ing a deep game to prevent my appointment, 
and was now ably assisted by his countryman, 
the new Minister for War. I determined at once 
to put this to the test, and accordingly indited 
such a lefcter to his Excellency that the most 
practised official shuffler could hardly avoid 
giving a definite answer. 

I was not kept long waiting for a reply ; it 
came the next day, containing a direct refusal to 
my application, stating no reasons for it, and 
couched in the coarse, ungentlemanly and ignor- 
ant language one might naturally expect from a 
French officer whose father was probably a 
butcher, and who had himself risen from the 
ranks. Having perfect confidence in the Em- 
peror's good faith, I wrote him a detailed ac- 
count of the whole transaction, enclosing the 
minister's reply to me. His Majesty was at the 
time at his country seat at Cuernavaca, but the 
next day I received a telegram from his private 
secretary, saying that his Majesty had directed 
him to inform me that I was appointed captain 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

of a squadron in the Gendermeria Imperial. 
Two days afterwards, to my great delight, the 
Minister for War resigned, and I have often 
thought (though perhaps foolishly) that the snub 
he received by my appointment had something 
to do in accelerating this step. 

A life of busy activity for me now commenced, 
as I had the organization of a company of gen- 
darmes which consisted of two divisions, each 
under a captain, with a proportionate number of 
subaltern officers ; the rank of " commandante/' 
or major was subsequently given to those senior 
captains of companies who had organized them. 
The privates were composed of men of first-class 
character (none others being admitted) from the 
different Austrian cavalry corps, as well as from 
the Chasseurs d'Afrique, together with a few 
others of all nations, including a very small por- 
tion of English and Americans, enlisted on the 
spot, and ten per cent, of the pick of the Mexi- 
can cavalry. No one, who has not had the rais- 
ing of a new regiment composed of men of four 
or five different nations and languages, can form 



MEXICO UNDER M AXIMILIAN. 167 

any idea of the chaos and confusion, and the 
many difficulties and obstacles with which we 
had at first to contend. 

Some of the Poles and Croatians (from the 
Austrian service) seemed really not to speak any 
known language under the sun ; and even their 
own officers could with difficulty understand 
them, while many of the Austro- Italians chat- 
tered so fast in a jargon made up of German, 
Italian, and Spanish, evidently intended for the 
latter, that it was almost a hopeless case at- 
tempting to arrive at their meaning. 

Spanish was, of course, the recognised lan- 
guage, and all words of command, drill, orders, 
<&,c., were issued in that tongue, but alas ! how 
imperfectly understood by the majority of both 
officers and men, the latter frequently having the 
advantage in consequence of having mixed more 
with the Mexicans. I now congratulated myself 
on having studied the language ever since my 
arrival, for my trouble in doing which I now 
reaped the benefit. There was one instance of a 
French officer who held the same position as my- 
self, who, though belonging to a nation natur- 



168 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

ally stupid at languages, surpassed anyone I 
have ever met with. He had been three years in 
the country, a great portion of which had been 
spent in the interior, where, one would imagine, 
a man would pick up a little of the language, but 
he could neither speak nor understand the com- 
monest every day phrases, the names of his 
favourite beverages, and a few choice oaths, being 
about the extent of his Spanish vocabulary ; and 
yet, though speaking no tongue but his own, a 
confirmed drunkard, and having been dismissed 
the French service for the latter, he was, through 
the influence of the French Minister for War, 
appointed to organize and command three hun- 
dred men, of half a dozen different nationalities, 
in one of the most important branches of His 
Majesty's service. It was thus that the Emperor 
was imposed upon, and the Government of the 
country wilfully mismanaged by a parcel of 
designing and dishonest servants, foremost among 
whom I am sorry to have to place the French ; 
and to acts like these may be attributed the in- 
efficient state of all branches of the service, which 
aided not a little to bring about the final triumph 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 169 

of His Majesty's enemies. My companyj being 
at length complete, and in a tolerable state of 
efficiency, we were despatched to the city of 
Puebla. 

Military events had meanwhile not been with- 
ont considerable interest in different parts of 
the country. During the remaining months of 
the fall of 1864, and in January and February, 
1865, the Imperialists pursued their military ad- 
vantages. Colima, Mazatlan, Morelia, and 
Oajaca, successively fell into the hands of the 
Imperialists. 

With Oajaca fell the last centre of resistance. 
General Mangin immediately took command of 
Oajaca, where he left Lieut. -Colonel Coteret Tre- 
court at the head of the weak garrison. Juchit- 
lan and Tehuantepec did not long escape the fate 
of Oajaca ; but strangely enough, when the 
struggle seemed to have reached its end, and it 
appeared impossible for the exhausted Liberals 
to keep it up, that courage which had failed them 
when they had the means of turning it to good 
account, suddenly returned again. They seemed 
at last to perceive the kind of warfare by which 

I 



170 MEXICO UNDEE MAXIMILIAN. 

they could seriously annoy their enemies. On 
the 11 th of April they annihiliated the detach- 
ment of Commander Tydgodt at Tocamboro^ in 
Michoacan. This detachment of two hundred 
and fifty men lost a dozen ofiQcers, among whom 
was the son of G-eneral Chazal, the Minister for 
War in Belgium. Cortinas returned to the duty 
he had abandoned, bearing away with him on 
his defection seven hundred and fifty men, and 
threatened Matamoras. 

In the north Negrete bore down upon Salsilo, 
the capital of Coahula, and upon Monterey, 
capital of Nuevo Leon, and seized both places suc- 
cessively. This movement was serious enough 
to force Marshal Bazaine himself to direct his 
attention to San Luis. The Imperialists did 
certainly amply retrieve this partial defeat. 
Colonel de Poitier dispersed the Bepublicans and 
vanquished Negrete. 

On the 25th of March the expedition which 
had so long been planned against Senora, began 
to be put into execution. A division of the 
Pacific squadron, composed of the " Lucifer," the 
"Assas," the " Cordeliere," and the "Pallas," 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 171 

started from Mazatlan, and landed Colonel G-ar- 
nier's troops on the 29 th at G-aaymas,, which 
entered the town without resistance. 

The garrison of one thousand one hundred men 
disappeared, and escaped in spite of all the at- 
tempts made by reconnoitering parties to discover 
it. 

At the same time G-eneral Mangen penetrated 
into the Chiapas territory, and seized Tobago, the 
capital of the state bearing the same name. 
Juarez was in Chihuahua, in communication with 
California, where, by the intervention of Racide 
Yega, he succeeded in negociating for the pur- 
chase of two thousand one hundred stand of small 
arms, two rifled batteries, and three millions of 
cartridges, which Mr. Seward thought it his duty 
to seize, at the request of the French Ambas- 
sador. 

It clearly results, from a general view of the 
whole situation, and from the report of the French 
Commander-in-Chief, that it had become less 
favourable than it was in the month of February ; 
that the insurrection, like the wave which un- 
ceasingly effaces the track of the vessel, without, 

1 2 



172 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

however, opposing its progress, had re-united 
behind the French army, that Monterey was no 
longer in their possession, but in that of Negrete, 
who, according to the admission of Marshal 
Bazaine himself, effected his retreat in good order, 
as well as every other movement he saw fit to 
make. 

Since these events no important military action 
had taken place to break the monotony of the 
coming and going of Imperial troops, who alter- 
nately occupied and quitted the northern provinces. 

We had to furnish two detachments, one at the 
^' Rio Frio " (cold river), and the other at Tlas- 
cala. Rio Frio is merely a large hacienda, with 
its dependent village of " Peones," but situated 
half way between Mexico and Puebla. It is the 
highest point of the road, and being open to the 
freezing blasts from the two volcanoes, the cold 
there is very severe, a log fire at night be- 
ing almost indispensable. The house of the 
hacienda has been converted into an hotel, for the 
passengers of the diligence, as in the fine weather 
the coach stops to breakfast there, while during 
the rains it is the halting place for the night, as 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 173 

the progress made is naturally diminislied by one 
half in consequence of the heavy state of the 
roads. Being entirely surrounded by forests and 
mountains, the neighbourhood was not only a 
stronghold of the enemy, but roads in its vicinity 
were so infested by banditti, that it had become 
the terror of the whole journey, and representa- 
tions had been made to the Government that un- 
less some measures were taken for its better 
security the diligence would have to stop running 
altogether, as the passengers while at Rio Frio 
were in hourly dread of being carried out of their 
beds. Our force, then, of ninety men, had ample 
work on their hands to keep the roads clear of 
these gentry. 

Band after band were captured, and treated 
with scant ceremony, half an hour's grace only 
being allowed after capture previous to being 
hung on the road-side with their own lassos, 
which article every Mexican carries on his saddle 
bow. 

One officer, who was in command at this point,, 
having captured two men belonging to a famous 
band, which he had long been in search of, tried 



174 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

every means he could devise, both by threats and 
promises, to induce them to confess to the where- 
abouts of their comrades, but without any success. 
At last an idea struck him, and ordering their 
lassos to be put round their necks, had them 
gradually strung up to a tree but without any drop ; 
when about half suffocated, they were let down 
again, the same questions being put to them as 
before— *' Would they confess ?"— but they still 
remained firm. At length, after this process had 
been repeated no less than three times, they 
agreed to lead him to their band on condition 
that their own lives were spared, which was ac- 
cordingly granted, and in less than three hours 
Captain ■ had the whole band in his posses- 
sion, all of whom were hung before sunset, with 
the exception of the two men above mentioned, 
who were mercifully sent to the chain gang for 
ten years. I forbear to mention the officer's 
name, as I highly disapproved of the means he 
had resorted to, however good the end in view, in 
which opinion I think my readers will concur, 
though he obtained great '^kudos'' with the 
authorities for the affair. He was, nevertheless, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 175 

a good soldier, and a very pleasant fellow, but 
possessed all the cruel and revengeful feelings so 
often found among the inhabitants of Italy, to 
which country he belonged. 

Tlascala, where the other detachment was 
quartered, is an ancient, though small city, about 
six leagues from Puebla, and contains about ^ve 
thousand inhabitants, being the capital of its 
State. In this neighbourhood our patrols had 
almost daily fights of more or less magnitude with 
different bands of robbers, all of whom really be- 
longed to the '^ noble army of the Mexican Ee- 
public ; " robbing being their mode of waging 
war, acknowledging Juarez as their chief, but 
whose immediate commander was the famous 
Carabajal, one of the most celebrated robber 
soldiers in Mexico. This man, who had shown 
great military ability when in the regular army, 
in which he had lost an arm during Juarez's first 
administration, had, at the beginning of the 
French campaign, been taken prisoner, and con- 
fined at Puebla, where he was foolishly treated 
with a great deal of consideration, and allowed a 
certain amount of liberty, " on parole," of all the 



176 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

eccentric things to propose to a Mexican, whose 
earliest education is lying. Taking advantage of 
this, he one day made his escape, and fled to the 
mountains in the neighbourhood of Tlascala, 
where he formerly possessed large estates, and 
every inch of which ground he -knew perfectly. 

By way of showing his gratitude for the kind- 
ness and consideration he had received at our 
hands during his captivity, directly he became 
free he swore eternal revenge and destruction to 
all foreigners, and conjured his followers never to 
show the slightest mercy to any that might fall 
into their hands. 

It was said he could always rally round him 
upwards of a thousand sabres, though he never 
appeared to us in such force ; but on one occasion, 
when, with three hundred men, he had the 
temerity actually to enter the town of Tlascala on 
a marauding expedition, we completely routed 
and put him to flight with little more than sixty 
gendarmes, and came very near capturing him, 
having succeeded in taking some twenty of his 
followers, who expiated their offences the next 
morning ; and I can assure his robber Excellency 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 177 

that had he been taken he would have shared their 
fate. 

This war to the knife, consisting of daily re- 
prisals, may seem very shocking, and unnecessarily 
blood-thirsty, but when we consider the hundreds, 
nay thousands of innocent lives sacrificed by these 
lawless scoundrels, the families ruined, the houses 
laid desolate by their robberies and maraudings, 
and that this was the only way to rid the country 
of them, many excuses may be found for the 
orders under which we acted. Would they but 
have met us man to man, like soldiers, and di- 
rected their energies to legitimate warfare, we 
would gladly have met them on the terms of 
civilized belligerents ; but when every open 
encounter with our troops was shunned, the knife 
and pistol of the assassin being their chief 
weapons^ and their operations directed against 
innocent and unoffending women, passengers in 
diligences, and poor arrieros, no other mode of 
treatment could be expected from us. 

The Liberal troops in the north appear to have 
been of a much better stamp, but my description 

I 5 



178 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

of the hordes which infested this part of the 
country is not at all exaggerated. 

My company remained in the same quarters 
until September, 1866, my time being divided 
between the head quarters and the two detach- 
ments ; during the whole of which time, scarcely 
a week passed without some portion of it having a 
skirmish with the enemy. 

We were hardly ever in quarters, our time 
being chiefly spent on the road, either furnishing 
escorts for the diligences or for persons of note 
who were passing up and down the road, hunting 
out plots and conspiracies, and making arrests iu 
distant and remote parts of the country, surpris- 
ing bands of guerillas, and gaining intelligence 
of the movements of the more formidable forces 
of the enemy. Altogether it was a pleasant life, 
full of excitement; my wife was always safe 
within the pleasant city of Puebla, though she 
has accompanied me on more than one expedition, 
and on one occasion her fearlessness was near 
costing her her life, 

I had been to visit an outpost some ten leagues 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 179 

off, and contrary to my usual custom, had gone 
totally unattended. I was expected home by six 
o'clock to dinner, and my wife ordered her horse 
about four, and attended by a sergeant and two 
men started to meet me at the house of a friend, an 
engineer on the railway, situate about three leagues 
off. It was the rainy season, and before she had 

been at Mr. B 's house many minutes, a heavy 

storm came on, which lasted more than an hour. 

After waiting till eight o'clock, and I had not 
appeared, they concluded that I was sleeping at 
the post I had gone to visit, and so, accompanied 

by Mr. B , she started to ride home. On 

reaching a "baranca," or water-course, which 
crossed the road, and which three hours previ- 
ously had been perfectly dry, they found it a boil- 
ing torrent, carrying branches of trees, railings, 
gates, &c., down with it. What was to be done? 
There was no other way of getting home, and her 
child was there, with only Mexican servants to 
take care of her. The anxiety of the young 
mother may therefore be imagined ; she decided 
to wait until the -water became lower, and then 
make an attempt to cross. 



180 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

After the lapse of two more hours, a little 
diminution was perceptible, and notwithstanding 

the remonstrances of Mr. B and the soldiers, 

she dashed her little mustang boldly in, with 

B on her right and the sergeant on her left. 

All three horses were carried instantly off their 
legs, and, after a fearful struggle, swimming 
with only their noses above the water, which 
came above my wife's waist, the opposite bank 
was at length reached, not, however, before her 
little horse had been once completely whirled 
round by the current ; one false step would have 
carried her to a frightful death. 

It strangely happened that a similar adventure 
was about the same moment occurring to me, 
about three miles off, which, together with the 
impassable state of the roads, occasioned my de- 
lay. This exploit, when the news reached the 
capital, caused an immense sensation; the most 
daring rider among even the Mexicans, who are 
celebrated for their fearlessness in this particular 
exercise, said that no inducment would have 
made them attempt to cross the baranca as my 
wife and her attendants had done. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 181 

My company was now well-armed, mounted, 
and disciplined, the officers hard- working and full 
of enthusiasm, and fortunately up to this time, 
through the friendly co-operation of the civil 
authorities, plenty of money had always been 
forthcoming for our current expenses, though this 
state of things was not destined long to last. 

On the 1st of September, 186^ I received or- 
ders to march and occupy the towns of Orazava 
and Cordova; the former is about thirty-five 
leagues lower down on the road to Vera Cruz, 
and the latter Rwe leagues beyond it, situated on 
the confines of the tierra caliente. 

Before describing the further adventures of our 
company, I must claim the indulgence of my 
readers for making a little retrospect of political 
events, which had rapidly been drawing to a crisis 
in all parts of the country. 



182 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN; 



CHAPTEE IX, 

In referring to the political state of the country 
at this time, though speaking with feelings at 
this moment in my breast of unaltered affection 
and respect for our poor martyred Emperor, I 
cannot shut my eyes to the unfortunate line of 
conduct pursued by him in many instances during 
his short reign, and can only lament that he was 
not surrounded by more wise and faithful 
advisers. 

No one, who has known Maximilian personally, 
as I have, can be insensible to his many good 
qualities. Strictly honourable and upright, good- 
natured to a fault, never anxious to punish even 
the most criminal offenders ; he always believed 
everyone to be as honest and truthful as himself; 
he was also a very erudite and highly scientific 
scholar. It is deeply to be regretted that to all 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 183 

these valuable attainments ^and estimable quali- 
ties was not added a little common sense and 
worldly knowledge. Of these he possessed none. 
Constantly swayed by the last opinion suggested 
to him, he was consequently always changing his 
plans. From the beginning he strove (like the 
man with his ass in the fable) to please everbody, 
and to obtain the favour of both political parties ; 
the natural consequence was that he at last found 
himself in that worst of all positions for the 
head of a Government — without any party at all. 
Invited to Mexico by the Church party, who had 
hopes that he would at any rate respect their 
rights which had been so trampled upon by 
Juarez, one of his first acts was to carry out the 
very plans that Juarez had laid. Churches were 
desecrated and turned into barracks, military 
stores, and stables. Convents were sold by auc- 
tion to the highest bidder, and the priesthood 
deprived of the dues from their congregation ; 
tithes which they had received from time im- 
memorial. The clergy were put upon a Govern- 
ment salary, which usually existed only in 
name, twenty per cent, on Government salaries 



184 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

being a very fair average to receive, if one could 
get even that. 

These acts, which were intended to appease the 
Liberal party, could not fail to forfeit the sup- 
port of the Church party which had brought him 
to the position he then held, but the Liberals 
had no faith in a man who had in the very out- 
set broken faith with his own party. They also 
saw all the public posts in the Government filled 
by foreigners ; Imperial pomp kept up at a large 
public expense, which latter was so very antag- 
onistic to their Republican ideas, and they deter- 
mined to bide their time (no doubt with a hope 
of ultimate assistance from the Yankees) and 
drive the foreign usurper, as they called him, 
from the land. About a year and a half after his 
arrival, in order to please the Mexican people, 
many old and tried adherents, who had accom- 
panied the Emperor and Empress from Europe, 
and who formed a large portion of the cabinet, 
household, &c., were gradually removed from 
office and replaced by Mexicans. This course, 
while it disgusted many faithful friends and 
counsellors, only gained the contempt of the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 185 

Mexicans themselves. However, notwithstand- 
ing these errors, matters ran on pretty well for 
the first two years. Money, though always 
scarce, was still forthcoming. French bayonets 
had kept the country quiet, and the roads open. 
Commerce was tolerably brisk, the merchants 
having hopes that under the new order of things 
the country would become settled. Emigrants 
also began gradually to pour in. Eailways, 
telegraphs, and other schemes were set on foot, 
and things, for a country like Mexico, began to 
look up. 

The next grand mistake of the Government 
was with regard to emigration. A Commission 
was formed, and agents appointed for many parts 
of Europe and the United States ; a Govern- 
ment organ started, whose columns teemed with 
glowing accounts of this '^garden of tbe earth,*' 
where it stated " nothing but peace, prosperity, 
and plenty abounded." This paper was freely 
circulated in English through the United States, 
and particularly in the south. A scheme was 
proposed to the Emperor for granting land to 
emigrants, especially Americans, free of cost, on 



186 MEXICO TJia)ER MAXIMILIAN. 

the following plan, commencing with the valleys 
of Orizava and Cordova : — 

Fifty square leagues were to be allotted for 
emigrant settlement, then fifty adjoining were to 
be held as Government reserve ; the next fifty 
were set apart for settlement and so on. The 
emigrants were to appoint their own magistrates, 
rural guards, police, &C.5 and the chief magis- 
trate of each settlement to be responsible to the 
Government that his district and its vicinity 
would be kept clear of guerillas and robbers. 
These arrangements for some unaccountable 
reasons were never carried out. The report was 
that Marshal Bazaine did not approve of them. 
By neglecting to carry them out an immense 
foreign population, that would have been of in- 
valuable service to the Empire, was lost, in ad- 
dition to which many, who had already arrived 
and spent all they possessed, disappointed of 
their land, and indignant at their treatment, in 
desperation joined the ranks of the Liberals. 

The real decline of the Imperial cause com- 
menced after the protest of the Washington cab- 
inet to the French Government on the subject of 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 187 

the prolonged occupation of Mexico by the 
French troops. From that date the latter ceased 
entirely to act on the offensive. Station after 
station was gradually abandoned, and their 
troops concentrated in and near the capital, and 
a few other large towns. I could mention many 
instances of their neutral conduct after that 
time, but one will suffice. 

A large convoy of Government money was 
proceeding from San Luis Potosi to the city of 
Mexico, escorted by seven hundred Austrian 
troops. Half a day's march to the rear was a 
French column of five hundred men. The con- 
voy was attacked by a large force of Liberals in 
a mountain pass. The French column, which 
was commanded by a colonel, halted, and the 
men were ordered to prepare their breakfasts. 
Meantime the Liberals kept manoeuvreing and 
alternately harassing the convoy, and retiring 
within rifle shot of the French troops. The lat- 
ter went in a body to their chief, clamouring to 
be allowed to assist their brethren in arms, the 
Austrians. His answer was " Soldiers, eat your 
breakfasts ; I have my orders ; you must not 



188 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

touch those men." The consequence was that 
the Austrian column was almost entirely cut to 
pieces, and the convoy captured. 

Soon after the first few detachments of the 
French force had actually left the capital for 
Yera Cruz, on their way to France, in October, 
1866 ; Maximilian, accompanied by the greater 
portion of his Austrian troops, went to Orizava, 
when a large portion of his private baggage 
and valuables were despatched to Europe, 
which I escorted to Vera Cruz. Being on 
intimate terms with most of the officials, im- 
mediately about his person, as my district ex- 
tended from Cordova to Orizava, I was kept 
aware of everything that went on. No less 
than three or four times in a week he made up 
his mind to abdicate, and as often altered it the 
following day. A deputation arrived from 
Mexico city, begging him to remain, and offering 
to raise a large loan for him. He received them 
at mid-day, and promised to give them a decisive 
reply in the morning. Be spent the whole night 
pacing his chamber like a man distracted, trying 
to make up his mind. In the morning he ac- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 189 

cepted the offers of the deputation. Three days 
afterwards he again resolved to go to Europe, 
and even had a special train prepared for the 
night following to convey him from Paso del 
Macho to Vera Cruz, and had a boat kept in 
waiting from the Austrian man of war, the 
Dandolo, to take him on board direct in order to 
avoid any possible demonstration on the part of 
the people. 

Do not let it be supposed that it was want of 
courage which suggested this step to Maximilian. 
I am confident that his only objects were to pre- 
vent, if possible, the further effusion of blood, 
and to enable, while yet there was time, those 
irrevocably committed to his cause to secure their 
own interests and safety under the protection of 
French bayonets. It should also be borne in 
mind that at this particular time he was in the 
deepest domestic affliction on account of the 
dangerous illness of the Empress, to whom he 
was very much attached, and for whose noble 
qualities he, like everyone who knew her, had 
the greatest admiration and respect. She had 
been his ablest counsellor in times of trouble and 



190 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

difficulty, and had now departed to France on a 
special mission to Louis Napoleon, to endeavour 
to induce him to continue his support to the 
Mexican Empire, if only for a year longer. 
While she remained with the Emperor his affairs 
were never in so bad a state as they got into 
after her departure. The melancholy occurrence 
of her sudden illness may have had much to do 
with the Emperor's constantly recurring idea of 
abdication. Just at this juncture Generals 
Marquez and Miramon arrived from Europe. 

The annexed autograph letter from His Majesty 
to General Mejia, on this subject, may be interest- 
ing to my readers. The original is in my posses- 
sion. 

Being commandant of Cordova, when they 
passed through on their way from Vera Cruz, I 
entertained them at dinner, together with the 
civil authorities of the place. Marquez was a 
little, dried -up looking old man, with only one 
eye, having lost the other by a musket shot from 
an upper window during a street fight in one of 
the former revolutions, but the one he had left 
seemed to make up amply for the loss ; nothing 



MEXICO UNDEK MAXIMILIAN. 191 

escaped it. Though, decidedly ugly, his face had 
a look of extreme intelligence. He talked little, 
but listened a great deal, and before one had 
fully viewed him, he had taken in almost an en- 
tirely comprehensive view of his interlocutor. 
His manners were very quiet and courteous, and 
he was one of the cleverest generals the Emperor 
had. Miramon was quite of another type, so 
youthful in appearance that he seemed quite a 
boy, though in reality nearly thirty-five. Very 
handsome, and remarkably fair for a Mexican ; 
gifted with a wonderful flow of speech, and of a 
most pleasing manner, it was impossible to be in 
his company five minutes without liking him, 
though to a very close observer there was a pe- 
culiar smile lurking about the corners of his 
mouth suggestive of danger. His style was 
bold and dashing, but he was one of the most 
wily politicians in Mexico. 

The arrival of these two men put a final stop 
to any more vacillations on the part of the Em- 
peror. They fully persuaded him that they Had 
returned to Mexico for nothing else but to estab- 



192 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

lish him firmly on his throne ; to make him a real 
Emperor, and not the puppet of Louis Napoleon. 
'' Let the French go," they said ; " the sooner 
the better; we want them not." The Mexican 
army was to be reorganised, money raised to any 
amount, and twith these and the Austrian, as 
well as other foreign troops, who had | taken ser- 
vice under the Empire, they undertook to sweep 
the Liberals from the country. The Emperor, 
accompanied by them, soon after returned to the 
city of Mexico, where all the foreign [Imperial 
troops were immediately concentrated ; the main 
body of the French troops commenced rapidly to 
march to the coast for embarkation, and the 
campaign re-commenced in earnest. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 193 



CHAPTER X. 

Meanwhile, I had marched with my company 
from Puebla on the 3rd of September, arriving 
at the pleasant town of Orizava on the evening 
of the 5th. No incident worthy of note occurred 
during our march, with the exception of one or 
two men being struck by the sun, caused by the 
increasing heat as we descended, and a too free 
indulgence in pulque, which is a very dangerous 
beverage to take when exposed to the sun. The 
descent of the Cumbres, which are the slopes of 
a chain of mountains forming part of the 
Cordilleras, which extend from North to South 
America, across the Isthmus of Panama, is one 
of the most magnificent sights I have ever be- 
held. The road is made in a zigzag form down 
the side of the mountain, which is very steep, at 
each turning of which is obtained a magnificent 
view of the fertile valley beneath, while on each 

E 



194 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

side the slopes of the neighbouring hills are 
beautifully coloured with the varied lines of 
vegetation caused by the change of temperature — 
from the orange, lemon, and banana, luxuriating 
in the valley, to the pine and heath-clad knoll on 
the summit of the mountain, while standing out 
in bold relief in the distance is the snowy peak 
of Orizava, 17,388 feet above the sea. In 
the valley beneath is Orizava, a very pleasant 
and healthy little town, containing about 25,000 
inhabitants ; it is in what is called the " tierra 
templada," or temperate country, being about 
2,500 feet in elevation, and though much hotter 
than the " tierra fria," as the plateau above is 
called, the temperature is still very agreeable. 
It was while the Emperor was still there that I 
received orders to change my head-quarters to 
Cordova, and keep the road open between that 
town and Paso del Macho, the terminus of the 
railroad between the latter place and Vera Cruz ; 
no very easy task, as the surrounding country is 
one mass of forest, affording a shelter to banditti, 
quite impenetrable to those unacquainted with 
its geography. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 195 

The following adventure was related to me by 
an officer who had formerly been stationed at 
this spot, which shows that, robbers though they 
are, there is sometimes a dash of romantic hu- 
mour about the rascals, reminding one of the 
days of Dick Turpin, who, after robbing an old 
gentleman on Hounslow Heath, insisted on his 
fair daughter alighting from the carriage and 
dancing a minuette with him by moonlight. 
I give my friend's story in his own words : — 
'' As you know, I was in charge of the post at 
Cordova, and one morning, just after breakfast, 
intelligence reached me that some arrieros had 
been robbed of their mules about half-way to 
Paso del Macho, and I resolved immediately to 
set out with a party after the diligences which 
had passed down, three in number, about an hour 
previously, and contained the opera-troupe en 
route for Europe, and some other passengers. 
You are aware. Major, that the road from Cor- 
dova to Pasco is, with the exception of one or 
two places, one continuous descent, and that the 
diligences, with their eight horses, go from stage 

K 2 



196 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

to stage at a gallop, only stopping five minutes 
at each stage while the animals are changed. 

" My chance then of overtaking them in time to 
prevent the mischief appeared small, and I even 
had doubts if I should succeed in falling in with 
the guerillas at all. I started in such a hurry 
on receiving the intelligence that I only took the 
stable guard with me, consisting of a sergeant, 
corporal, and ten men, whose horses were, of 
course, ready for mounting at the moment. How- 
ever, I did not much fear the result of a sudden 
attack upon a band of twenty or thirty robbers, 
who at any time are not celebrated for their fond- 
ness for fighting. We had ridden more than 
half the distance to Paso alternately at a hand 
gallop, and then a walk for a little distance to re- 
fresh our horses, and had found nothing but the 
broad tracks of the diligence wheels through the 
mud. At each place we enquired we were told 
that they had passed about an hour previously, 
^' all well," so that we had evidently not gained 
much upon them. At length, after a brisk gal- 
lop of about a league, we were walking our 
horses through a part of the road sheltered 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAIT. 197 

by p^roves of trees on each side, when our steps 
were arrested by the sweetest of female voices 
singing. And a moment afterwards the chorus 
was taken up by what sounded like a large com- 
pany of both sexes. From the sounds it was 
evident the singers were stationary, which 
seemed very strange, and greatly excited my 
curiosity. Ordering the sergeant to keep his 
men under shelter of the trees, I dismounted 
and crept through the brush across a belt of 
wood that brought me to another angle of the 
road, when the strangest sight imaginable met 
my eyes. 

" Fifty yards from me were the three diligences^ 
entirely deserted, and on a little green sward at 
the roadside, was the following tableau : — 

"In an empty waggon, which had been extemp- 
orised into a species of stage, were the prima 
donna, and her companions, of the operatic troupe^ 
still steadily proceeding with their parts, while 
the whole male portion of the passengers (those 
of the troupe excepted) were lying on their faces,, 
each with a robber, carbine in hand, keeping 
guard over him. The main body of the band^ 



198 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

which numbered altogether about twenty-five, 
remained mounted, their whole attention being 
evidently occupied by the sweet voices of the 
singers. 

" The scene was so novel, not to say romantic, 
that for a few minutes I could not rouse myself 
to action. It was evident that the passengers 
had not only been robbed, but the male portion, 
at any rate, were even then being ill-treated. A 
minute sufficed to make my dispositions ; creeping 
back to my men, I moved them forward thiougb 
the trees, to the spot I had previously occupied,* 
cautioning them beforehand, to utter no exclama- 
tion at anything they might see. Having 
mounted my horse, I directed the whole party to 
take aim at the group of mounted horsemen, 
which numbered about fifteen. A moment 
later, and the report of a volley rang through 
the air, and simultaneously with it we dashed 
from our concealment, and were upon them before 
they could possibly escape. The guards immedi- 
ately quitted their prisoners to take care of them- 
selves, which latter, finding themselves free, were 
on their legs in a moment, and regained their 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 199 

arms, which had been left lying on the ground, 
m different directions. In fine, the robbers, see- 
ing themselves surrounded, with no outlet for 
escape, threw down their arms, in token of sub- 
mission, and fell on their knees, begging for 
mercy. I found three men had been killed, and 
seven wounded, by the volley, and in the 
subsequent charge. The former I ordered their 
comrades at once to bury, and the latter were 
placed on the top of the different coaches. 

''The remainder were then tied on to their 
horses, which were led by my men, and in this order 
we entered Paso del Macho, where I delivered them 
over to the authorities. They had, it appeared, 
first fired a volley into the leading coach, which 
luckily did no harm, all three coaches were then 
instantly surrounded, and the passengers ordered 
to alight, on doing which the men were made to 
lie down on their faces. Everyone was then 
searched, and stripped of all their valuables, after 
which the ' captain ' insisted on the troupe 
singing the opera they had lately been perform- 
ing in Mexico, before he allowed the coach to 
proceed. 



200 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

'' I was so attracted by the humour of these 
rascals that I could not make up my mind to 
shoot them, and so, departing from the standing 
orders of summary execution, I gave them over 
to the authorities, though this was only delaying 
the matter, but of course I had no other alter- 
native." 

It was always a matter of pure chance whether 
passengers were ill-treated by these fellows or 
not, depending entirely on their humour, and 
not unfrequently on whether they realised a 
good booty, in case of not doing which their 
vexation and disappointment would most pro- 
bably vent itself; though in such cases the pos- 
session of a bottle of brandy has often saved its 
owner from ill usage. A disgraceful instance of 
this occurred during the latter portion of our stay 
in the country, to Mr. Beverley Tucker, well 
known as a leading Southerner, and formerly 
United States' Consul at Liverpool. This gen- 
tleman was travelling by diligence with his son 
from San Luis Potosi to Mexico. About midday, 
on the second day of their journey, the coach was 
stopped, for the fourth time, by an armed band, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 201 

principally composed of Indians. Having been 
thoroughly " cleaned out" already they had 
literally nothing left to be robbed of, which so 
enraged the robbers that they beat and ill used 
them terribly. Mr. Tucker's son, a youth of 
seventeen, was severely injured, and even his 
trousers taken off him, and he was left to com- 
plete his journey wrapped up in an old blanket. 

A report reached the capital of still worse 
treatment than this to some French ofiScers, who 
were proceeding to Europe on furlough. It stated 
that the diligence in which they were travelling 
was stopped within a few leagues of Paso del 
Macho, and, in addition to being robbed, the 
unfortunate Frenchmen were made to lie on their 
faces, and received a severe corporeal punishment, 
inflicted upon them with the flat parts of their 
swords. I simply give the story as an " on dit^^'' 
not vouching for the truth of it. It was, I 
believe, contradicted in French military circles 
in the city, but it was of course natural that the 
latter should wish to keep dark such a very " sore 
subject" to their order. 

It was in Cordova that our troubles com- 

K 5 



202 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

menced. It is about one thousand ^ve hundred 
feet below Orizava, and it is surrounded by a 
dense and rank vegetation, oranges, lemons, 
coffee, tobacco, &c., growing wild, and forming 
an impenetrable jungle all round the town ; this, 
though very pleasant to the eye, is nevertheless 
deadly in its effects, causing a fearful malaria, 
and, in the unhealthy season, the vomito rages 
worse there than in Vera Cruz, while a malignant 
fever is prevalent all the year round. 

Before we had been there a fortnight several 
cases of vomito occurred among the men, most of 
which proved fatal, and in another week the 
ravages were fearful, two and three dying in a 
day. My anxiety for my wife and child may be 
imagined, and also what were my feelings when, 
one evening, on returning from Orizava, where I 
had been to make arrangements for their removal 
to that place, to find that my wife had been taken 
ill during the few hours I had been absent, and 
had the dreadful plague upon her in its most 
virulent form. 

I cannot attempt to describe the next six 
days, during which she lay between life and 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 203 

death. We were most fortunate in obtaininof the 
services of an American doctor, who, with many- 
more of his countrymen, had settled here ; his 
attentions were unremitting, and he appeared 
thoroughly to understand the disease. He had 
predicted a crisis on the sixth day, and to my 
overwhelming joy it was a favourable one. I 
will here mention a remedy which I found most 
effectual, in case (which God forbid !) any of my 
readers should ever be in like circumstances. The 
vomito is much the same disease as the yellow 
fever, or *' Yellow Jack," as it is called in the 
West Indies. The night my wife was seized with 
it I casually met an old Anglo-West Indian, 
who told me that this remedy was frequently 
resorted to in the first stage of the disease, that 
is, while the fever is on the patient, after which 
period he generally lies for some days in a half 
torpid state, caused by the weakness left by it. 
It is a great object, therefore, to render the dura- 
tion of the fever as short as possible, and the 
remedy is simply to put the patient into a warm 
bath of pure lemon juice, which is fortunately 



204 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

generally obtainable in climates where the dis- 
ease is prevalent. 

Having obtained the Doctor's sanction, I im- 
mediately set about its execution. The whole of 
the company not on duty were speedily engaged 
in picking lemons in the surrounding grove, and 
in less than an hour I had several gallons of juice 
being warmed, which, when ready, was put into 
a bath, and, much against her will, T lifted my 
wife out of bed and placed her in it. After re- 
maining thus a few minutes, she was rubbed dry 
and replaced in bed, and soon fell into a comfort- 
able sleep, from which she awoke in the morning 
with a cool skin, and entirely free from fever, 
having avoided, I feel sure, at least two more 
days of it, and was consequently much less 
weakened than she otherwise would have been. 

Happily, after lying in the torpid state I have 
described until the sixth day, she gradually be- 
gan to mend, and in three weeks was compara- 
tively well, though it was many a long day be- 
fore she entirely recovered her strength. She 
evidently took the disease from nursing the wife 



1 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 205 

of one of the captains, who luckily also re- 
covered. 

We had arduous duty all this fcime, in addition 
to patrolling the roads, escorting diligences, &c. 
Convoys of ammunition and stores, on their way 
to Yera Cruz, belonging to the French army, 
were constantly passing down, as well as im- 
mense quantities of the Emperor's baggage, des- 
tined for Miramar. All these looked to us for 
protection, and the men accompanying them gave 
us an infinity of trouble, our interference in the 
shape of police being constantly necessary. The 
enemy were close upon us at all points, frequently 
making their appearance in bodies of one or two 
hundred, in sight of the gates of the town, though 
when we made sallies to endeavour to cut them 
off we were seldom successful, as they imme- 
diately scampered off into the forest, in which 
they had greatly the advantage of us, through 
their knowledge of the country, and it was a 
hopeless case endeavouring to pursue them. 

One incident annoyed and mortified me very 
much ; two of the gendarmes, who acted as grooms 
to some of the sergeants, were taking five horses 



206 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

to the river, situated a few hundred yards from, 
aad within sight of our outlying vedettes. As 
their intention was to give the horses a bath, 
they were themselves in stable dress and unarmed. 
They were commencing operations, when sud- 
denly six men, mounted and armed with revolvers, 
rushed down upon them from a neighbouring 
copse, and presenting their pistols, demanded 
the instant surrender of the horses, having ob- 
tained which (as of course resistance on the part 
of the two unarmed men was out of the question), 
they at once made off to the mountains. It was 
a holiday in the town, being the occasion of a 
grand bull fight, but the alarm was instantly 
raised, and pursuit made in a few minutes, but 
of course to no purpose. The men stated that 
three of the number were Americans, which sub- 
sequently proved to be the case, three rather bad 
characters from among the emigrants being mis- 
sing, and it transpired that they had borrowed 
revolvers the day before from some of their friends, 
stating that they were going on business to Vera 
Cruz. I afterwards heard of their appearing at 
an hacienda, at the head of a band of robbers. 




^ 











'■^. t-i-^t^-^^-if^ ^4^<u*^-z^!>^ C::;^^^«?-z-^^ ^ .-^-^:^tt 




MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 207 

and being ignominiously driven oflE by a party of 
armed negro labourers. 

We had now been a little naore than two 
months at Cordova, and had lost a large number 
of men, as well as several of our best non-com- 
missioned officers, by vomito. Generals Marquez 
and Miramon had passed through, and the Em- 
peror had returned from Orizava to the capital, as 
described in the preceding chapter. The greater 
portion of the French troops had either em- 
barked or were en route to the coast, when one 
morning the welcome order arrived to march im- 
mediately for the capital, where all the Imperial 
foreign troops were to be concentrated. Hurried 
preparations were everywhere being made to obey 
the new summons. Twenty-four hours found us 
again on the road in the highest spirits, both at 
leaving the deadly region of the Tierra Caliente, 
as well as at the prospect of commencing what 
seemed probablei would be a real campaign, as it 
was hardly to be expected that the enemy would 
be so shy of showing themselves when the Im- 
perial force was diminished by upwards of forty 
thousand French bayonets. 



208 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Cordova, Orizava, and many small towns, were 
abandoned as we proceeded ; sufficient troops not 
being available to garrison them, they were held 
temporarily by the French, but it was inevitable 
that as soon as the rear guard of that army had 
turned their backs upon them, they would be at 
once occupied by the soldiers of Juarez. This 
was a great pity, and proved very disastrous in its 
results, as the only communication with the post 
of Vera Cruz, and consequently the outer world, 
was thus cut off. I have always thought that an 
endeavour should have been made to hold 
this most important line, even to the exclusion of 
the northern provinces, as its occupation was of 
much more importance to us, and proved to be of 
incalculable advantage to the enemy. 

Had this been done, Porfirio Diaz could never 
have brought his heavy siege train to bear upon 
Puebla, and subsequently upon the capital, for 
the transmission of which to the latter place he 
was enabled to avail himself of the railroad; and 
had the Emperor made Mexico his rallying point, 
instead of Queretero, how different might have 
been the result — a good line of retreat, with com- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 20^ 

mand of the railroad to Vera Cruz, would always 
have been available. Puebla, however^ was the 
only place held on the road, a strong body of 
Mexican troops being left to garrison it ; all the 
other Mexican troops between that and the coast 
which had not gone to the capital were rallied at 
Vera Cruz, which^place was eventually the last to 
surrender. 

On passing through Puebla we were ordered ta 
join a large column of Imperial troops, under 
General Cadena, and it was now that my diffi- 
culties commenced in obtaining money. I had 
hitherto been always alone with my company, 
and had succeeded in obtaining sufficient from the 
Civil Authorities of the places I was quartered at. 
At Puebla, however, I had to go to the Pay- 
master-General, who gave me a small sum only, 
saying that the Paymaster of the Force with 
which I was going to march would supply the 
rest from day to day. 

This was a mere subterfuge, as I afterwards 
discovered to my cost. With great difficulty I 
obtained sufficient for my men's subsistence (full 
pay being out of the question), and when on 



210 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

arrival in Mexico I applied to the Minister for 
War for the payment of some 1 5,000 dollars due 
to my company, on account of pay, &c., a great 
portion of which I had advaaced from my own 
purse, he told me there was not half so much in 
the treasury, and offered me 500 dollars on ac- 
count. In this manner I had to screw money out 
of the treasury by driblets, day by day ; but my 
poor fellows were never paid half the arrears due 
to them, nor did I ever recover a dollar of the 
money I had trustingly advanced for their main- 
tenance. 

With the poor Emperor's death of course all 
hopes of payment ceased. Let it pass. It was 
at any rate devoted to the service of as noble a 
prince, and as fine a specimen of an honourable 
gentleman as ever the world produced. 

The column with which we left Puebla con- 
sisted of one entire Austrian Cavalry Regiment, 
the ^^Huzares Colorados," or red hussars, five 
hundred strong, commanded by the young and 
dashing Colonel Count Keven Huller, a young 
Austrian nobleman, of immense fortune, which he 
had devoted, with himself, to the Emperor's cause. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 211 

An Austrian infantry battalion, 600 strong; 
two companies of the " Gendarmeria " (including 
my own), each about 320; a Mexican cavalry 
regiment, and two ditto infantry, together with 
sundry other details, and about fifteen guna, 
making altogether upwards of 2,500 men. Our 
march was only attended with the usual incon- 
veniences of dust, slow progression, &c., always 
accompanying the movement of large bodies of 
troops, an attack not being anticipated. Arrived 
at Ayotla, a village two marches from Mexico, 
we had to remain several days, until some of the 
remaining French troops, which had concentrated 
there previous to departure, had left, during 
which time I was sent with two companies to re- 
lieve the garrison of Texcoco, about ten leagues 
off, situated on the opposite shore of the large 
lake bearing the same name, whose waters reach 
within a league of Mexico. Stationed here were 
a number of Mexican infantry, as well as a couple 
of companies of the " Guardia Imperial,^' a re- 
giment composed chiefly of foreigners, organised 
on the same footing as my own. 

Their communications had for some time been 



212 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

cut off by a large force of infantry and cavalry, 
under a man named Antonio Perez, and famine 
was beginning to threaten them, as their garrison 
was too weak to spare enough men to go out and 
give the enemy battle. The siege, however, was 
immediately raised on our approach, and when we 
reached the town not a foe was to be seen. 

A wretched sight presented itself on entering 
the plaza ; not a house or shop open ; everyone 
had foreseen this evacuation, and disposing of 
their effects abandoned their homes to seek shelter 
in the capital. One enterprising individual alone 
had kept his shop open, thus reaping a golden 
harvest by the sale of liquors, boxes of sardines, 
&c., &c., to the soldiery ; but he, poor fellow, 
paid the penalty of his boldness. Our arrival 
was so sudden and unexpected, in order that the 
news should not reach the enemy, that when it 
became known that the whole garrison would 
leave at daybreak the next morning, the rush for 
carts, mules, &c., was such that our friend found 
it impossible to procure sufficient for the trans- 
port of his goods, and had to leave a large por- 
tion of them to the tender mercies of the Liberals. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 213 

The next day we rejoined the column, and on 
the following a general move was made for 
Mexico, and on reaching San Angel in the even- 
ing I was thankful to take advantage of the 
railway, and send my wife into the city, where I 
rejoined her on the following day at the comfort- 
able hotel " Iturbide." 

On arrival we found that the last of the 
French were to leave the city almost immediately, 
and the next few days were consumed in reliev- 
ing them of the occupation of the different forts, 
garitas, &c,, as well as in granting discharges to 
numbers of our own men who took advantage 
of the order issued by the French Commander- 
in-Chief, shamefully to desert their standard 
and break their engagements. The order was to 
this effect : That all French subjects at present 
in the service of the Mexican Empire were free 
to quit it, if they desired, and leave the country 
under the protection of the French army ; those 
who had formerly belonged to the said French 
army might re-enter it in their old grades ; and fur- 
ther that any failing to avail themselves of this 



214 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

permission would hencefortli lose all the rights of 
French subjects. This shameful order, the sole 
object of which was to injure the Emperor's 
cause for the gratification of personal animosity, 
was the most flagrant act of injustice, and did an 
immense amount of injury to us. At least one- 
third of the Imperial foreign troops were com- 
posed of Frenchmen who had been permitted to 
volunteer from that army to the Imperial, receiv- 
ing, on entering, a very large bounty on their 
agreement to serve two years. 

Many of these had enlisted quite recently, and 
as nearly the whole took advantage of the order, 
their bounties, uniforms, and other expenses at- 
tending their enlistment and training, were, of 
course, a dead loss. It was condemned by every- 
one as the most gross piece of injustice ; men 
who had received a bounty and enlisted for a cer- 
tain period in a foreign country, as a matter of 
course, had lost all claim to protection or inter- 
ference on the part of their own ; and at any rate 
none should have been permitted to go unless 
their bounty money were returned, but the Com- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 215 

mander of 40,000 French bayonets ordered it ; 
he had ten times our European force to back 
him, and what could we do ? 

This was not the worst of it. The Emperor^ 
though astonished at so many desiring to quit 
his service, yet scorned the idea of keeping men 
against their will. He, moreover, would not per- 
mit his Austrian troops to be treated differently 
to the French, and, therefore, published a decree, 
informing them that any were at liberty to de- 
part who wished to do so, and to their eternal 
shame be it said, a large number of these also 
took advantage of this generous permission, and 
like the French, breaking their engagements, 
left for Europe with the Emperor's two years' 
bounty in their pockets. 

I cannot but condemn the conduct of Marshal 
Bazaine during the latter portion of his sojourn 
in the country. He doubtless had instructions 
to do all he could to induce Maximilian to abdi- 
cate, but he overstepped all bounds, not only of 
diplomacy and the laws of nations, but also of 
good conduct on the part of an officer and a 
gentleman, to say nothing of the dignity of a 



216 MEXICO UKDER MAXIMILIAIT. 

Marshal of France. Several pieces of cannon 
that he could not take with him, were spiked at 
the gates of the city of Mexico, and an immense 
quantity of surplus small arms' ammunition 
thrown into the canal. On the morning before 
he left the city he is said to have gone to 
the Emperor, and demanded some paltry sum 
due for the lodging money of his oflficers, threat- 
ening, if immediate payment were not made, to 
sell the cannon belonging to the Mexican army 
then in the city by public auction in the plaza. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 217 



CHAPTER XI. 

Our Frencli allies had now entirely deserted us, 
and the rear guard of their army had passed the 
city gates. The Gendarmeria, and Guardia 
Imperial altei^nately mounted guard at the 
Imperial Palace, and the garitas, forts, &c., were 
entirely manned by Imperial troops. The foreign 
cavalry were kept constantly employed in keep- 
ing the surrounding country clear of the enemy, 
making constant patrols in every direction. 
This was of course necessary, in order to keep a 
channel open for our supplies of provisions, 
vegetables, &c., and also to enable large quantities 
of forage to be accumulated from the neighbour- 
ing haciendas, as when the enemy had time to 
collect their scattered forces it was pretty certain 
that we should have to encounter an army in the 
valley of Mexico. News soon arrived that 
Porfirio Diaz was fast concentrating his forces in 

I. 



218 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

the neighbourhood of Puebla, no doubt with the 
intention of laying siege to that city, which would 
make the second it had the bad fortune to witness 
since the French invasion. 

On the 6th of February, I started on an expedi- 
tion to Toluca, some twenty leagues distant, in 
command of two hundred and fifty of my own 
corps. We accompanied a column of one thou- 
sand Mexican troops, with four pieces of artillery, 
commanded by General Tabera. Our mission was 
to relieve the garrison of Toluca, and bring it to 
Mexico, together with the prefect, public officials, 
and all loyal citizens who wished to accompany us, 
as it was not thought practicable to hold Toluca 
any longer. Our road ran over a range of moun- 
tains called Las Oruces, and through several very 
ugly passes. We arrived at Toluca at the end of 
the second day's march, having had only a little 
skirmish on the road, which was a one sided affair ; 
the enemy having exposed himself to our ar- 
tillery in an ill-chosen spot, was put to flight 
in ten minutes, and pursued by the gendarmeria, 
leaving fifty-five killed and wounded on the field, 
•our casualties being two wounded, and one miss- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 219 

ing. In two days we started on our return trip, 
our column now increased to two thousand men, 
and eleven pieces of artillery, with a convoy of 
six hundred carts and waggons, and one hundred 
private carriages, stage coaches, &c., containing 
the principal inhabitants of Toluca. On the day 
after we started, about half-past ten a.m., the 
enemy made his first appearance, in the shape of 
cavalry hovering about, aud firing at our 
advanced and rear guards. We were now at the 
entrance of a pass two leagues in length, entirely 
hemmed in by mountains and forests. We all 
knew what was up, but there was no help for us ; 
we had to enter and fight our way through or be 
cut off from Mexico, there being no other road. 
The infantry advanced in skirmishing order, 
supported by a strong body of cavalry, and four 
mountain howitzers, but from the nature of the 
ground these latter could do but very little. Next 
followed the convoy and heavy guns, escorted by 
the main body of infantry and cavalry, the rear 
being brought up by a strong force of Mexican 
irregular cavalry, and fifty of the gendarmeria. 
The action soon became general ; we were exposed 

L 2 



220 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

to a galling fire from seven different positions, 
whicli the enemy had chosen with admirable skill, 
and being entirely hidden by forest it was a very 
difficult matter to dislodge them. Our main 
body was so encumbered with the convoy that we 
could scarcely make any progress. The only 
indication of the actual whereabouts of our 
assailants were the long lines of blue smoke from 
their infantry. They had one mountain how- 
itzer in position at an angle of the road, some 
way up the hill. This was immediately captured 
by twenty gendarmes, and the gunners, with a 
company of infantry, who held it, were either 
sabred or put to flight. General Francisco, or as 
he is better known in Mexico, Pancho Yeles, who 
commanded the enemy on this occasion, was close 
to the gun when it was captured ; but he escaped 
into the bush, leaving a splendid horse, with 
silver mounted harness and trappings behind. Our 
greatest difficulty was with the horses and mules 
of the carriages, which were being killed and 
wounded every minute, each one, of course, 
delaying the whole train. 

The fire was terrific, and I must say I never 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 221 

saw troops behave better than the Mexicans did 
on this occasion. Let a Mexican fight with other 
Mexicans, in his own way, and he fights well. 
He does not care how heavy the fire is, but will 
always keep advancing and returning it, but a 
charge he can neither make nor receive ; he has 
never been taught to do the one, and he cannot 
stand the other. This applies to both infantry 
and cavalry. About 12 o'clock I received orders 
from the General to move my men to the rear, 
and charge a large column of the enemy's cavalry, 
about seven hundred strong, which were harass- 
ing our rear guard at the entrance to the pass. I 
did so, with two hundred gendarmes, pursuing 
them for a long distance, and killing over two 
hundred. They never waited to receive us, but 
fired a volley at fifty yards, broke, and ran for 
their lives. Having fought every inch of the 
road, we reached the end of the pass, and the 
village of Santa F6, about seven in the evening, 
where we passed the night. We had brought 
with us every cart, carriagOj gun, and wounded 
soldier ; but we left, I regret to say, upwards of 
three hundred dead on the field. Many officers 



222 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMTLIAN. 

had fallen ; and, more than all, two women were 
killed, and two young girls were wounded. A 
more terrible spectacle than these latter presented 
during the fight, when exposed to the thickest of 
the fire, I never witnessed ; it is too horrible to 
describe. My horse was shot under me, but I was 
fortunate enough to escape unhurt As all, with 
one or two exceptions, showed great bravery and 
coolness, it seems invidious to notice any one 
particularly, but I cannot help mentioning the 
heroic gallantry displayed by Colonel Francisco 
Eodriguez, commanding the Guardia Municipal, 
the best regiment of Mexican Infantry in the 
service. He was acting, on this occasion, as chief 
of the staff to the General. Wherever the fire 
was thickest there he was to be found, at one time 
urging and encouraging his own regiment, five 
minutes later charging with the cavalry, and 
showing them a noble example by his fearless- 
ness, at another moment he would be in the 
woods, with the advanced skirmishers, who were 
Indians, fighting hand to hand with the enemy's 
sharpshooters, and cutting many of them down 
with his sabre, while over and over again he 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN". 223 

volunteered to carry orders to officers at different 
parts of the field, through such a terrific fire that 
the General hesitated to send any one, as it 
seemed almost certain death. When an artillery 
officer was wounded, about the middle of the 
action, he lifted him on to his own horse in front 
of him, and cut his way through a dozen of the 
enemy's cavalry, till he reached the column, 
where he placed him safely in a carriage. I was 
delighted to see him after the engagement safe 
and well, but how he escaped I cannot think. 
Poor fellow ! he soon after met with a soldier^s 
death, charging Escobedo's infantry before Que- 
retero, where he was shot through the head as he 
was in the act of leaping his horse over a stone wall. 
The officers have always been the great defect in 
the Mexican army; instead of leading their men 
and setting them an example of bravery, they 
have invariably been the first to run. Would 
they but take Colonel Kodriguez for a model, we 
should soon hear better accounts of them. A 
little Mexican trumpeter was also particularly 
noticed for his pluck and coolness, accompanying 
the General all day, through the thickest parts of 



224 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

tbe fire, and sounding the different orders with as 
much precision as if on parade. On returning 
to the city the Emperor received us with marked 
courtesy and pleasure ; to all of the troops he 
distributed the Mexican war medal. He was also 
graciously pleased to confer the order of "Knight 
of Guadaloupe " on some of the officers of higher 
grades, amoug whom I was fortunate enough to 
be included. 

Puebla was now the last inland town of im- 
portance in the southern part of Mexico held by 
the Imperial troops, except the Capital, and we 
all expected that the Emperor would here make 
his chief stand, and give the enemy battle as 
soon as they appeared in the valley of Mexico. 
What then was our astonishment when, after a 
few days spent quietly, without any important 
incident, to hear that some 5,000 Mexican troops, 
of all arms, under the command of General 
Marquez, the Mexican commander-in-chief, were 
to march northward on the following morning, 
thus leaving the capital with only some 2,200 
foreign troops and 5,000 Mexicans. 

Preparations were soon made, and the expedi- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 225 

tion started between four and ^yb in the morn- 
ing ; afc eight, the whole City was electrified at 
the announcement in the morning papers that 
His Majesty the Emperor had accompanied it, 
the only foreigners he took with him being a 
troop of Austrian cavalry, as a personal escort, 
his doctor, secretary, and the Hungarian cook 
before mentioned, who was to act in the capacity 
of general body servant. His Majesty selected 
two horses from the stud for his own use, leav- 
ing instructions that all the rest, together with 
the carriages, saddlery, liveries, &c., and any 
other surplus personal effects, should be immedi- 
ately sold by auction, and every small debt owed 
by him be paid with the proceeds. 

Numerous conjectures were naturally made as 
to the cause of this sudden step taken by His 
Majesty. It was in reality brought about by the 
cunning representations of Marquez, who per- 
suaded His Majesty that if he showed the Mexi- 
cans that he had implicit confidence in them by 
leading them on an expedition, and that he did 
not rely solely upon his foreign troops, he would 
for ever attach them to his person, and that a 

L 6 



226 MEXICO UKDEE MAXIMILIAN. 

feeling of enthusiasm would rapidly spread 
through the country, bringing in thousands 
daily to flock to his standard. Marquez well 
knew that a romantic and imaginative nature 
like Maximilian's was sure to catch fire at such a 
prospect. He was playing a deep game for his 
own benefit, at the expense of his victim, as will 
shortly be seen by his future conduct. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 227 



CHAPTER XII. 

Some two months previous to the events described 
in the last chapter. General Miramon had taken 
the field in the north, and his campaign had 
hitherto been a series of brilliant successes. On 
the 9th February, intelligence reached us that 
he had made a flying march with some 2,500 
men from Quaretero, which he was then occupy- 
ing, to Zacatecas, which latter place was occu- 
pied by 2,000 Liberals, and contained also 
Juarez and his so-called cabinet, Miramon's ob- 
ject being, of course, to capture them if possible, 
and as Juarez was the mainspring of the Liberal 
party, and alone kept them together, this would 
virtually have put an end to the contest. Mira- 
mon arrived before Zacatecas in the morning, 
where the Liberals, who were expecting every 
moment to be reinforced by Escobedo and Tre- 
vino, managed to make a tolerable resistance 



228 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

until night, when the expected reinforcements 
not arriving, they beat a hasty retreat under 
cover of the darkness. Juarez and his cabinet 
had escaped in the morning from the opposite 
end of the town to that at which the Imperialists 
first made their appearance, and took the road to 
Durango, though all their papers and correspond- 
ence were captured. 

The following day, however, was destined to 
bring the hitherto dashing and successful young 
General a reverse of fortune at last. Immedi- 
ately he heard that the Liberal forces from San 
Luis were marching towards the place, he 
decided to meet, and if possible, surprise them. 
He did so at the Hacienda of San Jacinto, half 
way between Zacatecas and San Luis, where he 
met the division of Escobedo, with which he 
would, no doubt, have made short work, but for 
the arrival of a second division of the enemy, 
under Trevino, who had taken the Tresilio road, 
and attacked him in the rear, just as the troops 
of Escobedo were beginning to give way. This, 
of course, turned the fortune of the day. Mira- 
mon's forces now finding themselves surrounded, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 229^ 

attempted to cut their way through, which the 
General, with a portion of his cavalry, succeeded 
in doing, but the whole of the infantry were 
either shot down on the spot or taken prisoners ; 
twenty-five pieces of artillery and all the 
baggage train (including 40,000 dollars in 
specie) fell into the hands of the enemy; 400 
Imperalists were killed or wounded, and 1,500 
taken prisoners^ among whom was Joaquino 
Miramon (brother to the Miguel the General), 
who, with all the foreign prisoners, 150 in 
number^ chiefly Frenchmen, was immediately 
shot by the butcher Escobedo. The General 
escaped by a miracle, and arrived next day at 
Aguas Calientes, accompanied by only ten ofl&cers. 
It was the news of this reverse, no doubt, that 
at last settled the determination of the Emperor 
to take the field. 

General Mejia had meanwhile completely 
routed the celebrated guerilla chief Oarabajal 
(before alluded to), killing, or wounding, nearly 
his whole force of two thousand men, and cap- 
turing their cannon and baggage. 

Leaving the Emperor to continue his march to 



230 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

the seat of war, I will return a little to the state 
of affairs in and around the capital. It was only 
too evident that we should shortly be in a com- 
plete state of siege. As I have before mentioned, 
the whole remaining garrison in the city was 
some seven thousand ^ve hundred men, including 
foreigners — too few to make any successful sortie, 
and leave sufficient troops for the safety of the 
city, as in the surrounding districts the enemy 
were in complete possession. 

Alvarez was at Cuernavacca with five thousand 
men ; Pancho Yelez, who so badly harassed us 
in the pass of Las Cruces, was at Toluca, into 
which he had marched, on our evacuating it, with 
two thousand men; Costillo Velasco was some- 
where in the neighbourhood with a thousand more ; 
and Porfirio Diaz between us and Puebla with 
six thousand, besides numerous irregular bands 
— all raising the Republican standard —making 
a total of over seventeen thousand men. Diaz's 
division were between the Eio Frio and Ayotla, 
which place has before been described as within 
a good day's march of Mexico. He sent a chal- 
lenge on the 7th of February to Colonel Oronez, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 231 

who was on his way up from Puehla with a thou- 
sand Imperial troops, raised by conscription, say- 
ing, " People tell me you are not soldiers. I 
believe you are, and that you will fight ; meet me 
three leagues from Mexico to-morrow." Not- 
withstanding this vain-glorious message and 
challenge to a parcel of raw recruits from the 
commander of a division of over six thousand 
veterans, he did not put in an appearance, and 
the Imperial reinforcement marched into the city 
unmolested. They were a motley-looking set, 
dressed in canvas blouses and blue trousers, with 
a red stripe ; but their arms, which were Austrian 
rifles, with sword bayonts, were first-rate, and in 
good condition. They exhibited no appearance of 
discontent in consequence of their impressment; 
on the contrary, they seemed in excellent spirits, 
and marched sturdily along, with their wives and 
mothers trotting by their sides as unconcerned as 
themselves, which may easily be accounted for by 
the fact that the majority of them were being 
better fed and better clothed than they had ever 
been in their lives. 



232 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Communication with Yera Cruz was daily be- 
coming more difficult ; the Liberals one day, after 
cutting open the mail bags, notified the stage 
drivers that they would not be allowed to return — 
a thing unknown in previous revolutions, for in 
this country, where civil war has always been the 
Older of the day, it has been customary to permit 
the stages to pass through the lines unmolested. 
Telegraph wires had also been cut on the lines, 
and that mode of communication was entirely 
suspended. News had arrived by special courier 
from Vera Cruz, that the French troops were fast 
embarking, as well as an immense number of 
private individuals — both foreigners, who, fearing 
the aspect of affairs, had wound up their business, 
and decided finally to quit the country, and 
Mexicans of note, who were committed to the Im- 
perial cause, and feared punishment in case of 
the Liberals gaining the day. Vera Cruz was 
threatened by five thousand men, collecting at 
Tlacatalpam and Abamdo, under the Liberal 
Colonel Alvarez, and at Jalapa, under different 
officers, San Martin, a village a few miles west 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 233 

of Puebla, was occupied by a portion of Porfirio 
Diaz's command, who were rapidly preparing to 
invest that city. 

On the 13th February the following Imperial 
decree was issued, proclaiming unmistakably the 
Emperor's future line of action : — 

'' Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico. 

" From a desire to be present at the operations 
of the army in the interior, and to obviate mean- 
time delay in the despatch of the business of the 
Government, we decree — 

" Article 1. — During our absence in the in- 
terior the ministers will, with the concurrence 
of the President of the Council of Ministers, des- 
patch the business of their respective depart- 
ments. 

^'Article 2. — The President of the Council of 
Ministers, alone or in council with his colleagues, 
as he may deem proper, shall despatch all busi- 
ness of gravity and importance. 

^'Article 3. — The Ministers, the Council of 
State, and all authorities and functionaries of the 
Empire, civil and military, shall execute the 



234 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

orders of the President of the Couucil of Min- 
isters. 

" Article 4. — The business of the Government 
shall be despatched in our name. 

•^ Article 5. — Neither laws nor decrees shall 
be issued or abrogated, save in cases of an urgent 
nature, and with the concurrence of the President 
of the Council of State, and, should the emer- 
gency permit, of the said Coancil. The laws and 
decrees shall be issued in our name, and shall be 
signed by the President of the Council of Minis- 
ters, and countersigned on his own responsibility 
by the Minister of the respective department. 

*^ Article 6. — We reserve to ourselves the busi- 
ness of our house and Court, with all others ex- 
pressed in our note of instructions. 

" Our Ministers are charged with the execution 
of the provisions of this decree in so far as to 
each of them it appertains. 

^^Trofilo Marin, 

" Minister of the Interior. 
" Maximilian. 

«' Given at Mexico, 12th Feb., 1867." 



MEXICO UNDER IIAXIMILIAN. 235 

On the following day a despatch reached the 
Minister of War from General Marquez, with the 
intelligence that on the road to Cuatitlan, some 
ten leagues distant, a band of one thousand six 
hundred of the enemy attacked the column, and 
were repulsed with great loss, his Majesty per- 
sonally leading the charge against them, in which 
he had several narrow escapes of his life. A ser- 
geant who was receiving orders from him was 
shot dead by his side during the action. Further 
accounts showed that this mode of harassing 
was kept up by the Liberals along the whole line 
of march, but without risking a decisive action. 
News also arrived that Miramon, after his defeat 
at San Jacinto, had re-collected his scattered 
army, and returned with it to Queretero, to await 
the arrival of his Majesty. General Mendez, 
hitherto Commander-in-Chief, was also moving 
there from Morelia, and Mejia, with his division, 
was marching to the same place. A junction 
would thus be effected by the principal portion 
of the Imperial forces, of which the Emperor 
was about to take the command in person. 

During the whole of this time we were kept 



236 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

constantly on the alert in the city by the constant 
raids of bands of guerilla, of more or less magni- 
tude, who often approached close to the gates. 

My corps was constantly at Tacubya, already 
described, three miles distant, where we had daily 
skirmishes with Pancho Yelez's troops, who had 
advanced from Toluca, and occupied Santa Fe, 
the village we passed the night in on the day of 
the fight of '' Las Cruces." 

The trains were only allowed to run as far as 
the station at the Imperial Palace of Chapultapec, 
which is nearly a mile nearer to Mexico than 
Tacubya, and unless we obtained reinforcements 
there was little chance of its continuing to run 
even there, as the enemy were daily increasing 
in numbers and extending their lines, while we 
had continually to contract ours. 

One night after a very hard day's work in patrol- 
ling the different approaches to the city, I had 
turned in to bed in my comfortable quarters, at 
the Iturbide Hotel, and was congratulating my- 
self on the prospect of a good night's rest, when 
just as I had settled myself quietly to sleep some 
one tapped at the door of my room. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 237 

^' Who's there?" 

" Orderly, senor, with a despatch from the 
General." 

Very reluctantly I struck a light, and opened 
the door. On breaking the seal of the odious 
letter I read — 

" The Gendarmeria will assemble immediately, 
and proceed with all haste to Tacubya, where the 
enemy, under Yelez, have entered, and are pil- 
laging the town ; no further order for march is to 
be considered necessary. The commanding officer 
will proceed at his own discretion, and report 
results to these head-quarters, 

'' Tabeea, 
'^ General Commanding." 

" Where is my servant ?" 

"Here^ sir." 

" My black horse directly." 

*^ It is ready, sir ; I thought there was some- 
thing up when the orderly came with a letter for 
you, so I called up the other servants. Here are 
your things, sir ; the saddle bags are packed, 



238 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

your brandy flask filled, and I have brought you 
a cup of coflfee to take before you start." 

" All right ; I shall be ready in five minutes. 
Here, orderly, take this to the adjutant, warn the 
other officers, and tell him to sound to horse at 
the quartel immediately." 

This was the manner we prepared for the road, 
and sometimes for days, and even weeks, cam- 
paigning in Mexico. 

A hasty adieu to my wife, and I was in the 
saddle, and in less than half-an-hour on the road 
to Tacubya with 300 as fine light cavalry at my 
heels as ever made a charge. Fifteen minutes' 
brisk trot brought us to the outskirts of the 
village, where I learnt that there were upwards 
of 900 of Yelez's cavalry scattered about the 
town, making free with everybody's property, 
and that only one or two of their pickets were 
stationed on the different approaches from the 
capital. Riding with my informant a few hun- 
dred yards I distinctly saw one picket on the road 
by which we were approaching, and riding back 
I immediately ordered the leading squadron to 
charge, the result of which was that the whole of 



MEXICO TJKDER MAXIMILIAN. 239 

the picket were either killed, wounded, or taken 
prisoners in less than five minutes without a single 
shot being fired, only the sabre and lasso being 
used ; and having now gained the '^ point d'appui," 
two troops were despatched by the two remaining 
roads to take the other pickets in rear, and these, 
most of whom were dismounted at the time, 
shared the same fate. Meanwhile the alarm had 
been given in the town, and the pillagers were 
rapidly turning out and forming on the plaza ;. 
skirmishers had also been thrown out by them, 
and were commencing a sharp fire upon us from 
the tops of the houses. Having secured the pri- 
soners with a guard, we dashed on towards the 
plaza, and not waiting to molest the skirmishers, 
who were only sent out for the purpose of delay- 
ing us, charged straight up the main street, and 
reached the plaza just in time to see the cavalry 
column of Yelez at full gallop on the road to 
Santa Fe. A fearful carnage now ensued ; the 
Liberal commander in his haste to escape had 
overlooked a second road running through some 
fields, which completely commanded that taken by 
his troops. Immediately perceiving this I sent a 



^40 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

squadron down it with orders to extend in skir- 
mishing order and harass the enemy's flanks, 
while I with the remaining one charged them in 
the rear. The road soon became narrow, and a 
crash ensued from the difficulty of passing in 
front, while the enemy's rear was completely 
hemmed in by my men, who were making fresh 
charges on it every moment, and from the right 
flank on the hill side overhead a murderous fire 
was kept up by our other squadron. 

We continued this until within a few hundred 
yards of Santa Te, where the enemy's guns in 
position there opened upon us. I now called a 
halt, and collecting my troops retired, as two 
large columns of infantry were already in sight, 
coming to support the flying cavalry, and my 
force was too weak to risk any further engage- 
ment. 

We passed more than four hundred dead as 
we returned, besides a number of wounded, 
whom we brought back with us, also over one 
himdred prisoners. A string of bullock carts, 
which had been impressed by the enemy from a 
neighbouring hacienda, for the purpose of carry- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 241 

ing off their booty, and in the confusion of their 
flight had been abandoned, was of invaluable 
service to us, as affording the means of carrying 
the wounded into the city. 

My return was considerably hastened by the 
intelligence I gained on the road from the drivers 
of the bullock carts, that the Liberal General 
Berriozabal was already in the Cruces with two 
thousand men and six pieces of artillery, on his 
way to reinforce Yelez, and had he arrived a few 
honrs sooner I might not have got back so easib^, 
as he had a considerable cavalry force. Diego 
was now at Tlalpam, only four leagues from the 
city, on the San Cosme road, while one of Diaz's 
lieutenants was at Ayotla, in possession of the 
high road to Vera Cruz, and intercepting all cor 
respondence. These hostile troops, fast closing 
in upon us, cut off our supplies to a great extent, 
the loss of which we were beginning to feel in 
the almost total absence of fruit and vegetables, 
and the great increase in the price of all articles 
of consumption. 

About this time M. Adolphe Bazaine, nephew 

M 



242 MEXICO UiSDER MAXIMILIAN. 

to the Marshal, returned to the city, where he 
intended remaining, as he had some specula- 
tions there. He had parted with his uncle at 
Orizava, and as soon as he had cleared the rear 
guard of the French army, he was furnished 
with an escort by Porfirio Diaz, until within 
sight of the Imperial piquets round Mexico. 

A portion of the Marshal's baggage was cut off 
by a party of Liberal troops near Paso del Macho, 
and twenty- two thousand gold ounces were carried 
off with it, but on his sending an account of the 
proceeding to Porfirio Diaz the whole was re- 
turned on the following day. 

On the 12th of March we received information 
that Diaz had commenced a close siege of Puebla, 
with nine thousand men, the city being defended 
by some three thousand Mexican troops. 

It was evident that though the majority of the 
inhabitants of the capital were loyal, still a great 
number of disaffected existed, and our duty as 
Gendarmeria was very arduous; the streets, 
especially in the suburbs, had to be patrolled 
night and day ; and in addition to this, the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 243 

number of suspected persons we had to arrest was 
immense. The siege might safely be said to have 
commenced; the divisions of the enemy before 
enumerated had rapidly closed in upon us, in- 
cluding those of Porfirio Diaz, who, having over 
twelve thousand men in his corps, devoted half 
of them to operate against Puebla, and the re- 
mainder against the capital. Our force, a con- 
siderable portion of which was composed of new 
Mexican levies, was not sufficiently strong to 
risk a battle outside, and our raids were prin- 
cipally confined to cavalry foraging parties, chiefly 
to obtain feed for the horses. 

It may not be uninteresting to my readers to 
know the actual strength of the contending par- 
ties at this time, and the great odds to which we 
were subjected. 



i 



Imperial Foeces. 

Army under the personal command of the Emperor, in- 
cluding the divisions of Mendez, Mejia, Mkamon, ^ 10,700 
and Marquez 

Troops occupying Mexico, Puebla, Vera Cruz, and the") , , ^^^ 
state of Ucatan J ^^'^^ 

21,700 
M 2 



244 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 



Liberals. 

General Esobedo 6,000 

First contingent of Durango, San Louis, and Zacatecas. 4,000 
Antonio Carabajal (after liis defeat) .... 700 

Contingent of Guanajuato 4,000 

Army of the Centre 8,200 

Army of the West 8,000 

Army of the South 5,000 

Army of the East , 15,000 

Leiva and Altamarino 2,200 

Guerillas in different parts 10,000 

Garrisons in reconquered or evacuated places . . 6,600 

Total . . . 69,700 



All the different commands hitherto mentioned 
were included in the above departments. It must 
be borne in mind that none of them existed until 
the French evacuation was finally decided upon ; 
that in fact there was neither a Republican army 
nor Government, and that the whole organization, 
incredible as it may appear, was the work of 
three short months. It is true Juarez had all 
along kept a few followers together, which he 
styled the National Government and army, but it 
is equally indisputable that he, for a long time, 
quitted Mexican territory, and that no armed 
force, larger than a band of robbers, was any- 
where to be seen. This mushroom army and 
Government had thus, in an incredibly short 
space of time, assumed a most formidable aspect, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 245 

and my readers will probably wonder bow it was 
effected. Let tbem ask tbe United States wbere 
Juarez was supplied, with not only money but 
materials of war of many kinds, to say nothing 
of tbe enlistment of American citizens in Ame- 
rican territory to recruit the Liberal army in tbe 
neighbourhood of the Rio Grande. Money was 
meantime growing daily more scarce in the Im- 
perial treasury, and had it not been for the con- 
tributions of private as well as political friends 
of the Emperor, the troops would have been 
without pay. 

Tbe house of Baron and Forbes, who own the 
factory I have described at Topic, but whose chief 
house is in the capital, nobly responded to the 
call made upon them by contributing 100,000 
dollars, and many others came forward in the 
same manner. No prestamos, or forced loans, 
bad as yet been made, though, after paying up 
arrears of pay to the troops in garrison, only 
100,000 dollars could be remitted to the Emperor 
at Queretero. To find resources in a country 
where forty thousand Frenchmen had been main- 
tained for the last four years, would have puzzled 



246 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

a more clever financier than the Imperial Mexican 
minister. His embarrassments were still further 
increased by the utter impossibility of receiving 
any remittances from the Custom-houses at Vera 
Cruz and Tampico, which ports had been reckoned 
upon for a supply of funds as soon as their Cus- 
tomhouses should have been returned by the 
French to the Mexican author! ties^ but Porfirio 
Diaz had not only entirely cut off this source of 
revenue, but had detained every waggon proceed- 
ing to the capital with goods which would have 
paid internal duties there; thus the receipts were 
still more lessened, as well as the keeping of all 
foreign goods out of the capital, causing great 
inconvenience to everyone ; every day still further 
showed the folly in abandoning the towns and 
districts on the high road to Vera Cruz, and carry- 
ing the war in to the northern and central portions 
of the country. Had this error not been com- 
mitted, the principal revenues of the empire 
would always have been available ; neither Mexico, 
Puebkj nor Yera Cruz could ever have been taken, 
and safe communication would always have been 
open with Europe and the outer world. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 247 

On the 3rd of April, intelligence reached us of 
the fall of Puebla, which had been taken hj Diaz, 
who had again concentrated the whole of his di- 
vision there for the final attack. After a desper- 
ate resistance from the raw levies with which it 
was garrisoned, Diaz brought an enormous park 
of American artillery to bear upon the town, and 
when a good breach had been effected, carried it 
at the point of the bayonet, by pouring in over- 
whelming numbers. Five hundred men belong- 
ing to one regiment had taken up a position on 
the Plaza, and when the conquering masses poured 
into the city they still remained firm, and were 
eventually actually mowed down by a battery of 
artillery Diaz brought to bear upon them at close 
quarters. Nor did they cease fighting desperately 
till the last man among them was killed. 

Immediately after the capture of the place, 
Diaz shot six general officers^ and sixty-one of 
other grades, as a retaliation, he stated, for the 
Imperial decree of the 3rd of October, 1865. 
Three days later, after leaving a garrison in Puebla, 
he moved his head quarters to Guadaloupe, three 
leagues from Mexico, and commenced the trans- 



248 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

port of the whole of his troops and heavy artil- 
lery train thither, for which purpose he made use 
of the Imperial Mexican railroad, which had been 
completed to A pisaco, half-way between the two 
cities, but previous to accomplishing this, one of 
the most disastrous defeats our cause sustained 
during the war was effected by him, which I will 
hereafter describe. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 249 



CHAPTER XIII. 

I MUST now return to the Emperor, and his 
march to Queretero, but as I was myself in 
the capital at the time, 1 have obtained my 
information from the best authenticated sources, 
and especially am indebted to the correspondent 
of the "New York Herald" for several facts 
connected with the operations at and around 
Queretero, the news of which the Mexican papers 
were unable to obtain, and which, indeed, never 
reached the capital ; and being shut up there, I 
had no means of obtaining intelligence at the 
time. The skirmish at Cuatitlan the previous 
day has already been described; at Calpalalpam, 
three leagues beyond the village of San Fran- 
cisco, the same place where Ortega defeated 
Miramon and Marquez, in 1853, the Imperial 
troops were attacked by a large force of cavalry 
under General Cosea, The road at this point 

M 5 



250 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

passes between two steep hills, forming a defile 
easily guarded. The Liberals, however, occupied 
the left side only, and on the approach of the 
Imperial column opened a brisk fire of musketry. 
After a short skirmish, the Imperial cavalry and 
skirmishers advanced, and took possession of the 
hill on the right. The Liberals then massed on 
the left, and Marquez sent out skirmishers to feel 
their position, the Emperor himself accompanying 
them, exposing himself fearlessly in the thickest 
of the fire. Several of his staff endeavoured to 
draw him back, but his Hapsburg blood was 
roused ; — he replied ^' No, I am a soldier now, 
and must go with my own men." Meanwhile, 
the unhappy diligence^, which had originally 
started from Queretero, but had been compelled to 
return by Marquez to prevent news being carried 
back to the enemy, attracted the attention of the 
opposite party, who, apparently, imagined that 
the Emperor was there, and fired a volley of at 
least a hundred and fifty rifles at it ; some of the 
mules being wounded plunged, and upset the 
coach, but no greater damage ensued to the pas- 
sengers, though one man some distance off was 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 251 

killed, and four wounded by the discharge. It 
appeared afterwards that the Liberals had rifles, 
but only round, instead of concave, ball, which 
may account a little for this extraordinary bad 
marksmanship. No other casualties occurred, 
and the Liberals soon after beat a retreat : they 
lost four or five killed, and two prisoners, which 
latter Marquez wished at once to shoot, but the 
Emperor would not hear of it. " Yery good, 
your Majesty,'' replied the old tiger, and turning 
to his adjutant told him, with a meaning look, to 
put them with the other prisoners. They were 
accordingly taken to the rear, and, strange to say, 
^^were missing" shortly afterward. Marquez 
said they must have escaped, but the general 
remark was " quien sabe " (who knows). The 
Emperor, also, had to interfere, to save the lives 
of two passengers in the diligence from Queretero, 
who were provided with passes from Eseobedo. 
The bloodthirsty old General would have shot 
them as spies had he not been overruled by Im- 
perial authority. These repeated little differences 
seemed to interfere very much in the cordiality 
between the Emperor and his chief of staff — 



252 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

perhaps lie was beginning to fathom the latter's 
character. On the 17th February the column 
arrived at San Juan del Eio^ when His Majesty 
issued the following order of the day : — 

^^The Emperor to the Mexican Army. 

" To-day places me in the front, and I take 
command of our army, which little more than two 
months have sufficed to call together and organise. 
This is the day I have long and ardently desired to 
see. Obstacles have hindered me against my will. 

'' To-day, free from all compromises, I can 
follow simply my sentiments of good and loyal 
patriotism. Our duty as loyal citizens commands 
us to fight for the two principles most sacred to 
the country ; for her independence, which is 
menaced by men, who, from motives of egotism, 
seek to barter away her national territory; and 
for internal peace, which we see violated every 
day in a manner most cruel to our pacific com- 
patriots. Our actions being free from all in- 
fluence, from all external pressure, we shall 
defend and maintain the honour of our glorious 
national banner. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 253 

^' I hope the Generals will give to their officers ^ 
and they to their brave troops, a worthy example 
of the most strict obedience, and the most rigid 
discipline, such as is due from an army which rea- 
lizes the national dignity. Of valour and pride 
there is no necessity to speak, for they are the 
birthright of every Mexican. 

" I nominate the valiant General Marquez my 
chief of staff, and divide the army into three 
corps. The command of the first I give to the 
brave General Miramon ; the second corps I leave 
in the hands of its present chief, Marquez ; and 
the command of the third I bestow upon the 
intrepid General Mejia. I hope one day or other 
to include General Mendez, with his faithful and 
long-suffering troops, in the second corps. The 
patriotic General Yidaurri accompanies me to 
organise his troops, and open the campaign of 
the north. Our trust is in God, who protects, 
and will protect, Mexico; and we will fight 
bravely and tenaciously with our sacred invoca- 
tion — ' Viva la Independencia.' 

" Maximilian. 

^' San Juan del Kio, Feb. 17th, 1867." 



254 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

On tlie 22nd of February the little Imperial 
army arrived at the gates of Queretero, and at 
eleven o'clock his Majesty made his public en- 
trance on horseback, accompanied by his escort 
and staff. Great preparations had been made to 
give him a hearty reception. The Indian popu- 
lation predominates there, and they have always 
been friendly to the Empire. 

There is a legend among these people which 
has been handed down to posterity, and which 
I gathered from a Mexican antiquary of great 
learning. Since the period when the tribe 
called the Toltecs ruled the land, which was 
even before the time of the Aztecs, their 
favourite god was Quetzal, God of the Air. 
Under his auspices agriculture and mechanical 
arts had much progressed, but he was the greatest 
enemy to war, and when it was at length pro- 
posed he refused to hear. This aroused the 
anger of a more powerful deity, and he was ob- 
liged to fly to the coast, where he entered a small 
boat, and promising to return some day and 
bring everlasting peace and plenty with him, he 
sailed off into the east, whence the sun came. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 255 

leaving thousands of inconsolable worshippers 
and followers watching his frail barque from the 
seashore until it became finally lost to sight. He 
is described as a large, fair man, with a long 
beard, and the Indians, who had always been 
longing for his return, were at length persuaded 
that he had come in the person of Maximilian, 
whose appearance exactly coincided with the des- 
cription of their long lost god. The Emperor's 
extremely handsome personal and imposing ap- 
pearance went far to confirm this belief, and 
hence the great attachment of nearly the whole 
Indian race to his cause. 

The windows were festooned with ribbons 
and flowers, triumphal arches erected, and 
church bells rang their merriest peals. At 
eleven a.m., the approach of the Imperial party 
was heralded by a shower of rockets and 
crackers from the look out on the Cathedral 
tower, and soon afterwards his Majesty rode 
through the Plaza, amidst the acclamations 
of the people, to the quarters prepared for him at 
the "Lonja," or Merchants' Club House, the 
crowd closing round him as he proceeded, the 



256 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

great struggle appearing to be to get close enough 
to touch him. Such honest, heartfelt enthusiasm 
as was then displayed was alone sufficient to im- 
press upon a monarch that he was the people's 
choice, and that he was carrying out the wishes 
of the nation by fighting to maintain his position. 
In the afternoon a grand review of all the troops, 
numbering some twelve thousand, took place. 
The Emperor minutely inspected each regiment, 
and had some words of kindness and encourage- 
ment for all. 

A long time was now unfortunately wasted 
without any active steps being taken, in what was 
termed preparation for the coming campaign, 
though if ever the Imperial army was in a state 
to take the field it was then. All the principal 
Imperial generals, with their respective com- 
mands, were concentrated in Queretero, including 
Marquez, Miramon, Mejia, and Costilio, making, 
as I have already stated, a total of upwards of 
twelve thousand men, including a cavalry force 
of over two thousand, the finest body of that 
branch of the service ever collected together in 
Mexico, and three months' pay was in the chest. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 257 

It was evident that the open field should have 
been their placsj and not the walls of Queretero, 
notwithstanding the great natural strength of 
that fortress. 

A slight glance at the map of Mexico and the 
dispositions of the Liberal armies^ still more 
strengthens the opinion that this should have 
been the course of action pursued. Eseobedo, 
Trevino, and all the Liberal forces were marching 
southward to unite at a place called San Miguel, 
within about fourteen leagues of Queretero; 
Aranda, and Garera de la Cadena, were march- 
ing from Aguas Calientes rapidly towards the 
same point, thus with 900 men, who had left 
Zacatecas a few days since, the Liberal army 
when united would be between 10,000 and 12,000 
men, well armed (thanks to the Yankees), and 
many of them flushed with their recent victory 
over Miramon at San Jacinto. Corona was also 
rapidly closing on Queretero from the south-west, 
which would still further increase the Liberal 
forces collecting round that city to upwards of 
18,000 men. There was, however, still ample 
time had decisive steps been at once taken to 



S58 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

defeat all these different forces in detail before a 
junction could have been effected ; and with the 
fine troops and very superior cavalry composing 
the Imperial army this might have been under- 
taken with every prospect of success. In any 
instance where the Imperial troops had gained a 
victory their cavalry and light horse artillery 
would in all probability have made it a disastrous 
rout ; the Liberals would have been obliged to 
retreat again into Northern Mexico, if not 
utterly cut up and dispersed, and a very length- 
ened period must have elapsed before the Em- 
peror could again have been attacked in the 
naturally strong position formed by the whole of 
the great central plateau around the capital, em- 
bracing the populous cities of Guanajuato, San 
Luis, Guadalajara, Puebla, Leon, and many 
more, which, with their rich and fertile surround- 
ings, would have remained in his power, while his 
forces would soon have been trebled as a natural 
consequence in Mexico of success, enabling him 
to hold firmly his reconquered territory. The 
little armies of Alvarez, Carabajal, and a dozen 
others in the south would of course have been 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 259 

subsequently easily cut off, captured, and dis- 
persed, and the Empire firmly established for 
ever. These were poor Miramon's views, which 
he advocated at many a stormy council in 
Queretero ; but unfortunately there were too many 
generals all holding equal rank, the cunning old 
Marquez only working to fill his pockets at the 
expense of all ; the cautious Indian chief Mejia, 
and the jealous Ohoran, and Castillo, all worked 
to thwart the measures proposed by this dashing 
and ambitious young general, who had really 
more knowledge of the science of war in his little 
finger than the whole of them put together. The 
Emperor, unfortunately yielded to the majority, 
the golden opportunity was let slip, and a " mas- 
terly inactivity " for some time prevailed. The 
position of the town was certainly each day 
strengthened ; but the enemy were fast concen- 
trating and closing in upon it. 

On the 24th of February Eseobedo's lines were 
within seven leagues of Queretero, and the Em- 
peror, at the head of a large force, sallied out 
with the intention of giving him battle; but 
failing in drawing him from his position, returned 



260 MEXICO UlTDER MAXIMILIAN. 

on the following day. During this period Mira- 
mon had made a sortie with about 2,000 raen to 
relieve Mendez, who was besieged in Morelia by 
Corona and Kegules, and 900 men ; he succeeded 
in doing so, bringing him and his division to 
reinforce the army in Queretero. 

Supplies in the latter city had become very 
difficult to be obtained, as all the roads were now 
cut off by the Liberals ; the merchants had been 
ordered to give up to the public stores all the 
rice, beans, coffee, sugar, and salt, and the 
haciendados of the neighbourhood had a contri- 
bution laid on them of twelve beeves daily, and 
all the last year's grain. It was clear that in a 
very short time the city would be in a complete 
state of siege, and unless a decisive action took 
place, with every prospect of being starved out. 

Reconnoitering parties were frequently sent 
out, but alas, numbers of them invariably deserted 
to the enemy, so great was their dread of being 
shut up and starved in the city. On the 27th 
Corona effected a junction with Eseobedo, and the 
close siege of Queretero may be said to have then 
commenced. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 261 

It is a curious coincidence that the names 
of the chiefs of the Imperial party shut 
up in Queretero should all have commenced 
with the same letter, Maximilian, Miramon, 
Marquez, Mejia, and Mendez. A despatch, 
intercepted from the Liberal General Eseobedo to 
Juarez, dated before Queretero, 7th February, 
stated that he did not intend attacking the place, 
notwithstanding his greatly superior numbers, as 
he felt confident that it was only a work of a few 
weeks, if not days, to starve the Imperialists out 
of it. 

On the 14th March, Mendez, with 500 men, 
made a sally to favour the entry into the garri- 
son of an ammunition train coming from the 
Capital. He was attacked at a short distance 
from the City, where both parties were immedi- 
ately reinforced. The Imperialists sent out a 
division, and to meet this. Corona moved up with 
his whole command, which was repulsed with 
great loss, and the train brought safely in. 
While this was going on, Mejia moved out by 
another gate, to prevent Trevino effecting a 



262 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

junction with Corona, whicli he not only suc- 
ceeded in doing, but attacked Trevino in position, 
and routed him completely ; in fact, the whole 
Liberal army were compelled to retire somewhat 
from their position, and partially raise the siege ; 
but, nevertheless, no decisive steps were taken 
to follow up this success, notwithstanding that 
typhus had set in in Queretero with great fury, 
thus adding terribly to the horrors of war and 
famine. 

Great outcries were at the same time made in 
the Liberal army of the inefficiency of their 
commander-in-chief, Eseobedo, who, though he 
also was short of supplies, and in an equally 
starving condition with the besieged, still refused 
to risk an attack. He at this time received 
authority from Juarez to apply to Porfirio Diaz 
for reinforcements to the amount of 5,000 men, 
which he immediately took advantage of. 

The only outposts now left to the besieged 
were the neighbouring hills of La Cruz and La 
Campana, the heights of San Gregorio having 
been for some time evacuated. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 263 

On the lOth, Marquez, at the head of 500 
cavalry, and accompanied by Ohoran, made a 
dash out of the place, entirely frustrating all the 
attempts of the enemy to stop him, and took the 
road to the Capital. He was armed with full 
powers from the Emperor, who had appointed 
him Lieutenant-General of the Empire, by the 
following decree, his mission being to raise a 
loan and four or five thousand men in the capital, 
and return immediately with them to the relief 
of Queretero : — 

" For the discharge of the extraordinary and 
important mission which we have entrusted to 
General Leonardo Marquez, we name him our 
Lieutenant-General, invested with full powers, 
according to the verbal orders which he has re- 
ceived from us. 

*' Given at Queretero, the 19th March, 1867. 

"Maximilian." 

How far he deserved this confidence and the 
uses he made of it, will be seen hereafter. It 
was now determined to await the reinforcements 
which Marquez promised to return with in less 



.264 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

than twenty days, and with which he was to 
assail the besieging army in the rear, and thus 
favour a general attack from the garrison on the 
whole Liberal position. 

The siege continued without interruption till 
the 2nd of May, during which time fights of 
more or less importance took place almost daily, 
the attacking parties being invariably the Im- 
perialists, who made most spirited sorties, not 
only for the purpose of annoying the enemy, but 
to cover the approach of ammunition trains, pro- 
visions, &c., which occasionally arrived. The 
Liberals subsequently admitted that up to this 
date they had been worsted in every engagement 
that had taken place. The condition meanwhile 
of the besieged was most deplorable ; no corn or 
flour of any kind to be had. Horse and mule 
flesh, with occasionally a little rice, were the 
only descriptions of food at all obtainable ; the 
horses almost entirely without forage, and the 
small supply of water left after the cutting off 
of the aqueducts by the enemy, was of the very 
worst description. The city was bombarded 
night and morning, and the skirmishers on both 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAIT. 265 

sides kept up a continual fire on one another as 
long as daylight lasted. 

The poor inhabitants suffered very severely 
from sickness, produced by starvation, the total 
absence of any description of fruit or vegetable, 
as well as from the enemy's fire. One day a 
woman^ who was looking out of a window, had 
her head taken off by a round shot, and in the 
same street a very pretty little girl of eleven 
years old was killed by a bullet. Extensive feint 
attacks were frequently made, in each of which 
fifty or sixty lives were lost simply to get a letter 
through the Liberal lines. On the 11th of April 
Prince Salm Salm, with five hundred men, at- 
tacked an hacienda strongly fortified, near the 
garita of Mexico, his sole object being to get a 
letter through. He had five couriers with him, 
completely disguised, each with his despatch 
rolled up into the smallest compass, and enclosed 
in sealing wax, so that it could be swallowed if 
necessary. Two succeeded in getting through, 
but nothino^ was ever heard of them after. Asfain 
on the 17th, under cover of a feigaed attack, a 
party of four officers and seventy cavalry cut their 



266 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

way throngh with despatclies for Mexico. Five 
thousand dollars were always waiting as a reward 
for the first successfal courier who returned with 
an answer to his dispatch, but none came. One 
eager aspirant for the prize was one morning dis- 
covered hanging just outside the lines, with a 
large placard on his heart, on which was written— 

'« FIFTn COUEIER FROM MARQUEZ." 

During this dreadful period the Emperor as- 
tonished everybody. He was the life and soul of 
the whole garrison. But for him the position 
would have been surrendered over and over again. 
Always cheerful and hopeful, brave to rashness, 
and patient under the most adverse circumstances, 
he excited the admiration of all. Few of his 
officers exposed their lives so freely, none fared 
more poorly, or lodged more meanly. It was 
seldom that any greater delicacy than horseflesh 
or rice appeared on his table, while his staff, 
thanks to occasional foraging parties, frequently 
obtained chicken, turkey, and even wine. An 
officer, entering his room one morning, found 
him sitting patiently with his breakfast before 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. S67 

him, and neither plates to put it upon nor knives 
or forks to eat it with. He frequently arose in 
the middle of the night, and wholly unattended, 
walked round the lines and challenged every 
piquet. Over and over again his generals urged 
him to take the cavalry and force his way through 
the enemy's lines to Mexico, as the only chance 
of securing his personal safety, leaving to them 
the further defence of the city, but he always 
flatly refused. The last time he said — 

" I do not deceive myself; I know if they catch 
me they will shoot me, but while I can fight I 
will not run away." 

Maximilian's entire income at this time, which 
he allowed himself out of the Treasury, was fifty 
dollars per day. Out of this he paid his doctor, 
his secretary, his orderlies, and kept his two 
horses, leaving for his personal expenses after 
these outlays were paid, eleven dollars, and he 
never passed a beggar or wounded soldier in the 
street without giving him alms. 

On one occasion, when a number of prisoners 
were brought in who had deserted from the Im- 
perial army, carrying valuable information to the 

N 2 



268 MEXICO UNDEE MAXIMILIAN. 

enemy, and all his generals were clamouring to 
have them shot, he refused to permit it, saying — 

" T will have no executions, even though I 
know the men to be guilty. If things go well 
here, good; if badly, 1 shall have nothing on my 
conscience." 

On the occasion of the 10th of April, the third 
anniversary of his acceptance of the crown of 
Mexico, he replied to a congratulatory address of 
the citizens as follows : — 

*' I am surrounded by every species of peril, 
and by the most powerful obstacles ; yet I re- 
ceive you with the greater pleasure, as the faith- 
ful representatives of the moral and honest part 
of the nation, and of our valiant and long suffer- 
ing army, on this day, on which I enter on the 
fourth year of my reign. Three years of arduous 
labour, of great difficulties have passed. Already 
one fruit has resulted from this arduous period, 
in that I am able to demonstrate to my fellow 
citizens the consistency, the honesty, and the 
loyalty of the intentions of my Government. The 
day of the acceptation of my actual position 
pressed upon me spontaneously in my distant 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 269 

paternal shores, I vowed to consecrate myself to 
the defence of the integrity and independence of 
my new country, and of what, in my opinion, was 
for her benefit. For three years subsequently I 
have had to struggle painfully against influences 
hurtful to our country ; but, powerful and strong, 
struggled with, and triumphed over, at last, so 
that not one blot remains upon our glorious na- 
tional flag. I have been able to combat with con- 
stancy and good faith, because I based the 
strength of my rights, and the foundation of my 
legality, by the innumerable acts which, trans- 
mitted to Miramar by worthy sons of the nation, 
affirm and re-affirm in these historical documents 
of the great majority of the Mexicans my mission 
as their chief. At the moment of the evacuation of 
our territory by the foreigners, when one of my 
most sacred tasks — that of watching over the in- 
tegrity of our country, and protecting her 
threatened independence — was completed, I be- 
lieved that my further remaining at the head of 
the nation would be an obstacle. I have called 
since, in consequence of this doubt, a legal 
council, composed by my care of men of all 



270 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

parties, and of the most pronounced political 
colours, to place in their hands and on their 
responsibility of a free and frank decision on this 
question, so delicate and important for my con- 
science. The opinion of the Council being prompt, 
and almost unanimous, that it would be a grave 
shortcoming on my part to abandon in the actual 
moment of crisis the post to which the nation had 
called me, I consequently consented to dedicate 
myself a second time to the arduous task, which 
obstacles innumerable render more difficult every 
day ; but, at the same time, yielding to my most 
cherished and innermost impulses before leaving 
Orizava to return to the capital, I convoked the 
nation to a free and constitutional congress, in- 
tending to submit with readiness to the final 
decision of my fellow-citizens, and proposing to 
lay before them, also, all the acts, documents, and 
accounts of my Government, which, with a clean 
conscience, I could submit to their judgment and 
to that of the entire world. You, sirs, know why 
that congress was never freely and fully organized 
according to my intentions — because our anta- 
gonists were not, like us, willing to submit to the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 271 

national will. The truth is, that acts already be- 
come historical rendered it dijBScult for them to 
press for judgment before a free and impartial 
congress. Our duties and our task are now, in 
consequence of this, more clear. We have to 
defend our national independence, as well as our 
liberty, and to restore to the nation that free 
action and dignity which have so long been pros- 
trated under the absolute terrorism exerted by the 
cohorts of social revolution. On the 16th Sep- 
tember, 1865, I said to you that every drop of my 
blood is now Mexican ; and if God should permit 
new perils to menace our dear country, you 
should see me fight in your ranks for her inde- 
pendence and her integrity. Those who surround 
me in the difficulties and perils of to-day in 
Queretero see that I have fulfilled my promise. 
The following year, on the same day of memo- 
rable record, I said ' That without blood, without 
pain, no human triumph, no political reforma- 
tion, no lasting progress, had ever been accom- 
plished ; adding, also, that I was still firm in the 
struggle which the vote of the nation had called 
me to carry on, and, notwithstanding all the diffi- 



272 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

culties, I would not falter in my duties, since it 
was not in the moment of danger that a true 
Hapshurg would abandon his post.' And here I 
am, struggling cheerfully by your side. Let us 
continue to advance with determination on the 
road of our rights, and God will recompense our 
efforts, giving us as our reward the peace and 
liberty of our country. Let our rallying cry 
always, and on all occasions, be the immaculate 
motto — ' Viva la Independencia.' 

^' April 10th, 1867." 

On the 27th April, and also on the Snd May, 
general attacks were made on the whole Liberal 
position ; on the former occasion it was thought 
at one time that a complete rout of the enemy 
would take place, as their whole line ran, several 
infantry regiments making straight for the moun- 
tains, from which they had to be subsequently re- 
caught with the lazo by their own cavalry, but 
the little Imperial army was too weak to follow 
up the advantage. After the first panic, fresh 
troops were brought up, others rallied, and 
through a blunder of Miramon's a road was left 
unguarded, by which Eseobedo brought up five 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 273 

hundred reserve troops, and turned the Imperial 
position, compelling them to retire within their 
entrenchments, not, however, before the Liberal 
camp had been completely plundered by the 
citizens of Queretero. 

The 14th of May at length arrived; the situa- 
tion was thoroughly desperate, and the crisis had 
come. It was the sixty-seventh day of the siege, 
and the fifty- second since Marquez had started 
for Mexico to bring reinforcements and money, 
and no tidings of any description had been re- 
ceived from him, though from a letter sent by 
Maximilian to Mexico some days since, which I 
will mention hereafter, it was evident he had 
heard from other sources of the conduct of the 
Lieutenant- General in the capital. It was clear 
the garrison could not hold out three days 
longer. There was absolutely no forage of any 
description left for the horses, and not more than 
sufficient food for one good meal for all hands ; 
even horse and mule flesh was exhausted, no 
animals being left but the chargers of the cavalry 
and officers. A council of war was held, and the 
final resolve taken. It was as follows : — That 

N 5 



274 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

the whole army move out at midnight and cut 
their way through the Liberal lines. Surrender 
was out of the question, after the news received 
from Puebla of the butchery of captured officers 
by Diaz. All the male citizens between the ages 
of fifteen and fifty, were called out and armed, to 
hold the lines while the retreat was being efi'ected, 
though not much confidence existed as to their 
proving of any material assistance. General 
Mejia, who had formerly defended the city against 
very great odds, was entrusted with the direction 
of this part of the programme. The scheme was 
put into execution. If the Emperor and his 
little army succeeded in cutting their way through 
the Liberal lines they were to take at once 
to the mountains and effect a junction with 
Alvera, an Imperial general, supposed to be 
hovering about in the neighbourhood with some 
three thousand armed Indians. 

At eleven p.m. the whole army was under 
arms, artillery moved up, and everything ready 
for the sortie. The night was especially favour- 
able for the purpose, being dark and stormy, 
with only occasional glimpses of moonlight. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 275 

Curiously enough on this very evening, as sub- 
sequently transpired, Eseobedo, pressed by Juarez 
to bring the siege to a close, and continually 
taunted by his second in command, Corona, for 
his want of energy, had given orders for a 
general attack on the hill of La Cruz in the 
morning. 

At half-past eleven the Emperor rode down the 
line of troops, accompanied by his generals and 
staff, and riding side by side with his old friend 
and schoolfellow, Prince Salm Salm, who now 
acted as his Chief of Staff. Just as His Majesty 
had reached the head of the column, five deserters 
from the Liberal army were brought in by the 
advanced picquet, who, on being questioned why 
they wished to ^e shut up in a besieged city, 
stated that Juarez himself was closely besieged 
in the city of San Luis by Gonzales Ortega, and 
had sent orders to Eseobedo to raise the siege of 
Queretero and come to his assistance. 

The men's story seemed true. They, of course, 
stated their reasons for deserting being to obtain 
a reward for their valuable information, and their 
willingness to abide by the truth of their asser- 



276 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

tions. A hasty council of Lis generals was called 
bj the Emperor, and it was decided to wait two 
days longer, and see if the besieging army took 
their departure, as, supposing they did so, it 
would, of course, be very provoking to have left 
them Queretero to take possession of before 
starting. The order of attack was accordingly 
countermanded, and the troops returned to their 
quarters, very much disappointed at the delay. 

Poor Maximilian ! poor Miramon ! poor Mejia ! 
how different might have been your fates had 
you not listened to the cleverly told tale you then 
heard ; the fate of the Empire and of yourselves 
was decided by that lamentable delay. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 277 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Meanwhile the traitor was at his base work, and 
for forty-five thousand dollars had agreed to de- 
liver into the hands of his enemies his Imperial 
master and benefactor ; the man whose hand had 
loaded him with gifts, and by whose friendship 
and kindness he had been raised from obscurity 
to opulence and distinction. Colonel Miguel 
Lopez had, at an early date of the Emperor's 
reign, attracted his master's attention by his fine 
handsome face and noble bearing, as well as by 
several acts of daring which he had achieved, and 
not long afterwards was appointed by his Majestjr 
colonel of the Regiment of the Empress, the first 
of the splendid body of cavalry which Maximilian 
had taken such pains to organize. He rendered 
himself very unpopular to the officers, many of 
whom were foreigners, from Austrian regiments, 
by his overbearing conduct, but still continued to 



278 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

preserve the Emperor's favour. He was poor, 
and until this had hardly any prospects. The 
marks of Imperial favour bestowed upon him 
were endless. Gifts of money, estates, &c., were 
lavished upon the Imperial favourite, and he 
enjoyed, not only the confidence but the sincere 
jQ-iendship of his Majesty, who, on several occa- 
sions, honoured him by entrusting him with the 
command of escorts to himself and her Majesty 
the Empress. In addition to these marks of favour, 
the Emperor had graciously condescended to stand 
godfather to one of his children. On the death 
of Col. de la Madrid, who was killed at Cuer- 
navaca, he was appointed Commander of the 
Guardia Imperial, a body of foreigners, organized 
solely for the Emperor's personal protection ; and 
latterly he had been invested with the important 
command of the Convent of La Cruz, the Key of 
Queretero. He was uncle of the wife of Marshal 
Bazaine, and had been decorated by the Marshal 
with the Legion of Honour. Yet this was the 
man, who, for the paltry sum of 45,000 dollars, 
sold his benefactor to certain death. At the 
moment when Eseobedo was giving his orders for 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 279 

the attack on the following day, he received a 
note from Lopez, offering, for the above-named 
sum, to deliver up the Cruz to him. The offer 
was, of course, promptly accepted by the cowardly 
ex-muleteer (which was Eseobedo's occupation 
in the earlier part of his life), and, under cover 
of the darkness, Eseobedo and Corona moved up 
their forces right under the walls of La Cruz, 
Lopez, at a given signal, ordering his troops to 
lay down their arms, marched them out at one 
gate, where they immediately found themselves 
prisoners, while the Liberals marched in at the 
other, and took their places. Thus the Cruz 
remained all night garrisoned by Liberal troops, 
while Maximilian and his generals were sleeping 
quietly within. 

It is almost needless to state that the ^ve sup- 
posed deserters were simply a part and parcel of 
the plot. With the first dawn of day, the 
Emperor, always an early riser, was one of the 
first to find out that something was wroug. 
Hastily waking Prince Salm Salm, who shared 
his apartment, he exclaimed '^ Come along 
quickly," and made for the door, where he was 



280 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

met by a guard of Liberal soldiers, commanded by 
Colonel Rincon Gallardo. As be passed out, 
Lopez, who was in waiting, exclaimed " That is 
he, take him." Rincon, who was a brave, and 
evidently kind-hearted soldier, was thoroughly 
disgusted with the part he was playing in this 
disgraceful affair, and, prompted by a sudden 
impulse of generosity, he went up to Maximilian, 
and said, " You are a citizen ; you are no soldier. 
We don't want you. Go." At the same time 
pushing the bewildered Emperor out of the con- 
vent. A few minutes brought him and Salm 
Salm to the Sierra de la Compana, where he was 
met by Mejia, Castillo, and several of his Aus- 
trian officers and cavalry, as well as many other 
superior officers, who had managed to cut their 
way through the Liberal guards. It was quickly 
evident, however, that resistance or escape was 
equally hopeless. Four battalions of infantry, 
and nearly the whole of the Liberal cavalry sur- 
rounded the hill, and formed a complete wall, to 
penetrate which, with the handful of men present, 
was hopeless. ^. flag of truce was accordingly 
sent down, and the Emperor and officers with 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 281 

him, surrendered unconditionally to General 
Corona, his Majesty remarking at the time — 

" I surrender you my sword ; had it not been 
for the basest treachery, to-morrow's sun would 
have seen yours in my hands." 

He also stated that he had three requests to 
make ; first, that he might not be insulted, but 
treated as a prisoner of war ; second, that if there 
was any shooting to take place he might be 
the first ; and, thirdly, that when shot his body 
might not be unnecessarily mutilated. 

The officers with the Emperor were at once 
marched down and lodged in the convent of La 
Cruz, and the foreign hussars brought down by 
detachments and disarmed. One Imperial officer, 
Colonel Campas, alone made a desperate effi^rt 
to escape. Mounted on a magnificent horse, a 
revolver in each hand, and 4,000 dollars in his 
belt, he dashed down the mountain side and tried 
to break through the Liberal cavalry, and it 
seemed for a moment as if he would have suc- 
ceeded. He shot a Liberal major dead, and 
wounded several men who tried to stop him, but 
was finally wounded, and captured, and imme- 



282 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

diatelj shot. Miramon also had made a desperate 
attempt to cut his way through in another part 
of the city, accompanied by a few troopers ; but 
was also wounded and captured. 

Poor Mendez's fate was soon sealed. Eseobedo 
had issued an order that all officers who did not 
surrender within twenty-four hours should be im- 
mediately shot when taken. Mendez failed to do 
so, and was discovered two days afterwards hidden 
under the floor of a house. Though severely 
wounded he was at once marched down to the 
piazza, and shot. The first volley did not kill 
him, and he raised his hand and pointed to his 
head^ when the corporal of the party, understand- 
ing his wishes, placed the muzzle of his piece to 
it, and blew out his brains. 

He was like Mejia, an Indian by descent. He 
died like a brave soldier. 

In two or three days the Emperor and his 
oflScers were removed from the Cruz to the con- 
vent of Santa Terista, a change infinitely for the 
worse. The cells they occupied had no ventilation, 
and were alternately scorchingly hot by day and 
perishingly cold by night. Even Maximilian had 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 28^ 

nothing but the floor to sleep upon, and the food 
supplied was of the commonest quality, and very 
scantity in quantity. The Emperor was suffering 
from acute dysentery, and it seemed probable, if 
this treatment long continued, that the execu- 
tioner would be spared his work, and the unfor- 
tunate prince's earthly troubles be soon ended. 

Just at this time the Princess Salm Salm 
arrived in Queretero. This noble young lady, 
who is an American by birth, has by her wonder- 
ful courage and persevering energy in the Imperial 
cause created for herself a bright page in modern 
history, and her startling adventures and hair- 
breadth escapes make her truly a heroine of 
romance. It was she that went out of the city 
of Mexico with a flag of truce to Porfirio Diaz to 
endeavour to arrange terms for the lives of the 
Emperor, and those committed to his cause, as an 
equivalent for a capitulation of the city, in doing 
which she was twice fired upon. Whilst on this 
mission Diaz detained her as a prisoner for several 
days at Guadaloupe for the sole offence of hav- 
ing distributed alms to some Austrian wounded 
prisoners confined in the Castle of Chapultapec* 



284 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

On releasing her he gave her a passport with the 
express understanding that she should at once 
leave the country. Instead of doing this she set 
out quite unattended, except by a young Mexican 
maid, for San Luis Potosi, in a common country 
waggon, where, after innumerable adventures with 
robbers, she at length arrived, and petitioned 
Juarez for an interview. 

Eepeatedly refused, and almost driven from the 
door, she still persevered, and at length gained 
her point. Her object was, of course, to obtain 
a promise that her husband's and the Emperor's 
lives should be spared. In this, however, though 
she of course left no stone unturned, she failed. 
All Juarez would say was that the prisoners 
would have a fair trial, but he could not 
interfere with the proceedings. He, however, 
granted her an order to see the Emperor 
and her husband. Having gained thus much, 
she started for Queretero on horseback, arriving 
before the courier who brought orders to Eseobedo 
that Maximilian, Miramon, and Mejia were to be 
tried by a secret court-martial. Through her 
exertions with Eseobedo the prisoners were re- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 285 

moved to the convent of La Capuchina, where 
they had tolerable accommodation, and their 
friends were permitted to send them clothes, 
bedding, provisions, and wines, &c. The foreign 
soldiers and officers of inferior grades were con- 
fined in different parts of the city, while the 
whole of the Mexicans from the rank of ser- 
geant downwards were at once drafted into the 
Liberal army. A painful meeting, a night spent 
with her husband and his Imperial fellow pri- 
soner in anxious discussion, and this indefatigable 
young wife again started express for San Luis 
with a letter from the Emperor to Juarez, asking 
to be allowed three weeks' delay to enable him to 
send for the Prussian minister and two celebrated 
advocates from the capital to undertake his de- 
fence. After a stormy debate in Juarez's coun- 
cil this was at length granted, and the princess 
started the same evening, and the following day 
saw her again at Queretero, bearing a letter from 
Juarez addressed to the " Titulado Emperadore/' 
stating that his request would be granted. Ex- 
presses were permitted to be sent off to Mexico 
city, and in a few days the Prussian, English, 



^6 MEXICO TINDEE MAXIMILIAN. 

and in fact all tlie European ministers or Charges 
d' Affaires arrived in Queretero as well as the two 
advocates already mentioned, who immediately 
took steps to prepare His Majesty's defence. 
Meanwhile, the court-martial, composed of a 
colonel and three captains, was ordered to as- 
semble in the principal theatre of Queretero for the 
trial of Maximilian of Hapsburg, Miguel Mira- 
mon, and Tomas Mejia, 

What the charges brought against them were 
has never clearly transpired to the world. The 
Judge-Advocate had no less than fourteen framed 
against the Emperor, and visited him from day 
to day to read a fresh one, and to know what his 
plea was, but the whole were such rambling 
nonsense, mixed up not only with improbabili- 
ties but impossibilities that it was a hopeless 
case to make head or tail of them. 

The Emperor claimed time, referred to his 
counsel, and challenged distinctly the legality of 
the tribunal. He pleaded that not only was the 
court at present assembled, from the inferior 
ranks of the officers composing it, incompetent 
to try him, or any of his generals, but also that 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 287 

he being himself a Government recognised by 
eveiy civilized power in the world, except the 
United States, could only be tried by a Congress 
of Nations, and that his trial, in the manner 
proposed, was totally illegal, quoting " Wheaton 
on International Law" as his authority. The pro- 
test, however, was as utterly useless as if made 
to a Cannibal chief. 

"What did they care for international law or 
the recognition of civilized nations ? 

So said the '• Republican Government." 

The court-martial was forthwith to be pro- 
ceeded with, and its sentence (and no one 
doubted what that sentence would be) carried 
into execution. 

Was such a court, or such a trial ever before 
heard of? 

No one could say who really was the legal 
President of the Republic, or the Government, 
for, to say nothing of their having, for four years, 
been unable to sustain themselves as a Govern- 
ment their time of office had also long since ex- 
pired, five years being the limit of tenure of 
office of the President and Cabinet unless re- 



"288 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

elected. Independent of this, the court was 
itself incompetent for the trial of prisoners, hold- 
ing the respective ranks of the accused, and the 
proceedings were the greatest farce imaginable ; 
sitting with closed doors, refusing to hear half 
that the prisoners or counsel had to say in their 
defence, with a total disregard to witnesses, they 
soon completed their murderous task. The 
forms of trial were hurried over with indecent 
haste, and on the 14th of June, in compliance no 
doubt with previous instructions, Ferdinand 
Maximilian, Miguel Miramon, and Tomas Mejia 
were sentenced to be shot. The Emperor had 
very properly declined to be present at his trial, 
pleading his sickness, though he had really 
quite recovered from his dysentery. He knew 
that a conviction had been already decided upon, 
and that all he could say or do would avail him 
nothing, and he very naturally shrank from the 
humiliation of being insulted by the " canaille," 
styled his judges. 

On the same day the sentence was confirmed by 
Juarez and his cabinet at San Luis, and a tele- 
gram arrived at Queretero during the night 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 289 

ordering the execution to take place on the 
16th. 

The foreign ministers and also Princess Salm 
Salm were instantly travelling, as fast as an express 
could take them, to San Luis, where they arrived 
late at night, to endeavour, by threats, promises, 
and entreaties, to work on the feelings of the 
bloodthirsty Indian, Juarez. All, however, was 
of no avail; promises that Maximilian would 
never, directly or indirectly, again meddle with 
Mexican affairs, of alliance and assistance from 
their respective Governments, of indemnification 
for wrongs inflicted, threats of European ven- 
geance, and a beautiful woman's tears and 
entreaties, were alike equally useless. The Indian's 
war cry had been raised, the wild beast's thirst for 
blood excited, and blood he would have, blood, 
and no matter what the consequences, nothing but 
blood ! All that could be obtained was a respite 
of three days, to enable the fallen Emperor to 
arrange his worldly affairs. Seeing at last that 
it was useless striving more, and that delaying 
their return longer was only increasing the 
agonizing moments of suspense, the party started 

o 



290 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

back for Qaeretero, where they arrived during 
the night, a telegraphic despatch having preceded 
them to Eseobedo to delay the execution for three 
days. Let us take a little glimpse at the 
illustrious captive in his wretched prison, while 
these exertions were being made on his behalf. 

His constant companion was Prince Salm Salm, 
his old schoolfellow. This nobleman had served 
in the American war with great distinction, and 
was well known in the United States. He has 
since died a soldier's death in the late European 
war. 

On the Emperor going to Mexico he at once 
hastened to join him. 

On learning in the capital of His Majesty's 
sudden and almost secret departure upon the 
present expedition, he stole out of the city on 
horseback, and overtaking Maximilian on tbe 
road on the following day, declared that he would 
not be sent back again. Many a time since had 
the Emperor reason to be thankful for his old 
friend's devotedness. 

There they sat, in their narrow cell of nine feet 
hj twelve, playing ecarte by the hour, or chatting 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 291 

cheerfully over their cigars, discussing with vivid 
interest, not their own probable fates, but the 
politics of Europe, Germany particularly, and 
also of America. The latter country had always 
possessed a great interest for Maximilian, who 
was never tired of hearing Salm Salm relate 
stories of the American war. When German 
politics were discussed Maximilian would become 
serious and almost stern, indulging in many 
dreams of a period of Austrian prosperity and 
Austria's liberty. 

A fine picture he would have made in moments 
when he warmed with his subject, tall, and erect 
as a statue, his blue eyes kindling, and his great 
fair beard, quivering with excitement. He had 
many plans for the future, should, by any 
possibility, his life be spared. He intended to 
have resided in the Havannah for a few months 
until his Mexican affairs were settled, and then 
to retire to Miramar, and live in strict seclusion 
for some years at any rate. Notwithstanding 
this he seemed very satisfied with his position, 
and only anxious for his life, because he felt that 
the fates of many others were identical with his 

o 2 



292 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

own. He felt that no one could now say that he 
was a coward, which they might have said had he 
left the country with the French, or even escaped 
to Mexico, and left his generals to fight out the 
siege of Queretero. He had lost everything but 
his honour, which was now thoroughly satisfied, 
and he was apparently quite careless about the 
rest. Let it not, however, be supposed that he 
was unmindful of the exertions being made on 
his behalf; on the contrary he was most grateful, 
and wept like a child when he heard of the 
exposure and dangers underwent by the Princess 
Salm Salm for him. 

Let us anticipate the arrival of the unsuccess- 
ful messengers of mercy, and take one more 
glance at the poor captives. It was midnight on 
the 15th, the eve of the day ordered for the exe- 
cution. No information had been sent to the 
accused of the temporary reprieve. The Emperor 
was sitting at the only little table the meanly 
furnished cell afforded, writing by the aid of a 
miserable lamp. Salm Salm was asleep on a 
petate on the floor, and four armed sentinels 
paced up and down at the further end of the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 293 

apartment. Presently Salm Salm awoke, and 
rising, came up and stood at the Emperor's side. 
Tlie latter patted him affectionately on the 
shoulder, asking how he had slept. 

^' Poorly, your Majesty," he replied. " I have 
had fearful dreams. Has any news arrived of 
my wife or the ambassadors ?" 

" None ; but don't be deceived old friend, 
whatever may be the feeling of the party at San 
Luis, our friend Eseobedo will never hear of any- 
thing but my death." 

''' Alas ! I also fear the worst. What can we 
expect from the long-eared beast, the savage 
mule driver ?" (Eseobedo has immense ears, 
shaped like an elephant's.) " Oh ! your Majesty, 
would that I could save you with my own life." 

'' Which I would rather suffer a hundred deaths 
than permit," replied the Emperor. 

Soon after the sound of a female voice was 
heard at the door, which was being unlocked. 

^^ Here she comes," cried Salm Salm, and as 
he spoke the Princess entered the room. She 
rushed into her husband's arms and whispered 
something to him. A second afterwards she fell 



294 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

at the Emperor's feet and burst into tears. Gently 
raising her, the Emperor imprinted a tender kiss 
on her forehead, saying — 

" 1 know the worst, dear lady, by your face. 
Never can I be sufficiently grateful for your de- 
voted kindness, which deserved a worthier object, 
and a more successful issue; but never mind, 
don't weepa it is all for the best." 

At the same time placing her in her husband's 
arms, he retired to the other end of the apart- 
ment. The sentinels at this moment consider- 
ately withdrew outside the apartment. Let us, 
dear reader, do the same, and leave the illustrious 
prisoners to their grief unmolested. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 295 



CHAPTER XV. 

I HAVE already stated that on the 6th of April 
Diaz had moved hi« whole army to within four 
miles of the capital, but I must now relate im- 
portant events which occurred previously to this 
date. 

The city had been electrified by the sudden 
arrival, on the 26th of March, as if from the 
clouds, of Marquez, the new Lieutenant- General of 
the Empire, with five hundred cavalry at his back, 
with which he had managed to cut his way from 
Queretero in an incredibly short space of time, 
considering the obstacles with which he had to 
contend, and the necessity of proceeding fre- 
quently by mountain roads, in order to avoid fall- 
ing in with large bodies of the enemy. 

Armed with the authority given him by the 
Emperor already quoted, the new dictator showed 
immediately that he did not mean to allow the 



296 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

grass to grow under his feet. A forced loan of 
eight hundred thousand dollars was immediately 
imposed ; the press gangs, lazo in hand, scoured 
the city for recruits, the whole ministry was re- 
moved and a new one appointed. General Yi- 
daurri was named to the treasury ; Seiior Lases, 
who had heen in charge of the state depart- 
ment during the Emperor's absence, reduced to 
his former post of Minister of Justice, with a 
severe reprimand for his inactivity ; and Senor 
Campos, the Minister of Finance, threatened to 
be brought to trial for failing to supply the army 
of Queretero with the necessary funds. 

Among others, the Bank of London and South 
America was assessed at 50,000 dollars ; the mar- 
riage portion of one of the foreign Ambassadors' 
wives, just married, at 8,000 dollars, his Excel- 
lency being informed, in answer to his remon- 
strances, that it was not his property which was 
taxed, but that of his Mexican wife, secured to 
her before her marriage. A contribution was 
laid on the owners of city property of one 
month's rent for the Government, and on the 
tenants of half a month's, to be paid within 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 297 

sixty days. A large Spanish capitalist, who re- 
fused compliance, had his house closely invested 
by soldiers until he paid his quota ; not a loaf of 
bread — in fact, nothing was permitted to pass the 
threshold of the hungry household, and notice 
was given that the next day the water would be 
cut off. This was not a singular instance, but 
one out of many. Property might then have 
been purchased in the City for a mere song, so 
great was the anxiety of everyone to turn their 
real estate into cash, and make off or hide before 
another similar loan was imposed. 

The raising of a forced loan, or an army, when 
once vigourously commenced is soon completed 
in Mexico ; within thirty-six hours, 400,000 dol- 
lars aud 4,000 men had been raised, and the 
latter armed and equipped. 

On the 1st of April (one would think the day 
had been specially selected by the Lieutenant- 
General, for what has since been termed by some 
wag, " his excursion to the country in search of 
glory"), 4,000 mixed Mexican troops, the 
Huzares Colorados, and my own corps, the Gen- 
darmeria, a large train of artillery, and upwards 

o 5 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

of one hundred waggons of munitions of war, 
stores, &c., besides the majority of the lately 
raised money, started at ^yg a.m., by the road 
running through Guadaloupe, Otumba, and 
Assam, en route for Puebla, our supposed object 
beiog to relieve that garrison, and afterwards 
march to the succour of Queretero ; though from 
what subsequently transpired, there was no doubt 
that the intention of Marquez was to proceed 
directly to the coast, and, leaving the army to 
take care of itself, embark with his treasure for 
some foreign port. Our march continued with- 
out interruption through Guadaloupe, San Chris- 
tobal, across the celebrated Calzado, or Causeway, 
one league in length, which separates the lakes 
of Texoeo and San Christobal, through Otumba 
and Assam, and across the plains named after 
the latter place to Apisaco. 

Here, however, indications of art approaching 
enemy appeared, and in a short time, several 
heavy columns, flanked by a large force of 
cavalry and artillery, broke into view. The fact 
was, that Porfirio Diaz, warned of Marquez's in- 
tended march, had hurried an assault on Puebla, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 299 

and as has already been described, carried the 
place, when, leaving a garrison there, he immedi- 
ately started to meet us and give us battle, well 
knowing that he outnumbered us by more than 
three to one. 

Tn addition to this, summoned by telegraph, 
which had been kept open to Queretero, Guar- 
darama, with his division of cavalry, had come 
up by forced marches, and was waitmg to take 
us in the rear. A position was quickly and very 
judiciously taken up by Marquez, his flanks be- 
ing protected by the Hazares on the right, and 
the Gendarmeria on the left, under cover of 
which two batteries of artillery were moved for- 
ward and opened on the enemy. The first few 
battalions gave way directly the fire began to 
take effect, but being rallied by Diaz in person, 
and largely supported, they recommenced their 
advance, at the same time a murderous fire was 
opened from Diaz's rifled battery, which it soon 
appeared would in a short time render ours hors 
de combat Marquez, under these circumstances, 
took the initiative, and leaving his position ^ 
ordered a charge from the cavalry, at the same 



300 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

time moving Ms whole column of infantry for- 
ward at the double. This was just what Diaz 
wanted; the columns opposed to us gradually 
gave way, and we thought the day would soon 
be ours, when on both flanks appeared two more 
divisions of infantry, which had hitherto been 
concealed behind some small hills, and these, 
coming down at a run, halted within a couple of 
hundred yards and poured in a most murderous 
fire ; at the same moment a cry was raised of 
cavalry in the rear, and advancing at the gallop, 
under a cloud of dust, appeared Gruadarama's 
division of cavalry, numbering upwards of 2,000 
men. 

Confusion for the moment prevailed, but Mar- 
quez, who, though he subsequently proved him- 
self a coward, was cool and collected, and evidently 
had no intention of being caught in a trap if he 
could help it. Sounding a retreat, he fell back 
on the baggage train before the approaching 
cavalry arrived, and hurried it with the infantry 
and artillery across the plain in the direction of 
the road to Huamantla, which leads directly to 
Orizava and Vera Cruz, and which was only 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 301 

about half a league distant ; we, the European 
cavalry, covering the flanks, and alternately 
charging the pursuing enemy, and retiring under 
cover of the guns. It was a great mercy that 
Diaz's guns were badly horsed, and could not be 
brought up quickly enough to follow us. Seeing 
this movement^ Guadarama halted for a moment, 
and then, changing the direction of his division, 
moved them at full gallop in the same direction 
we were taking, but at a much greater angle, evi- 
dently with the intention of getting lower down 
the road, and thus completely cutting us off until 
Diaz could overtake us. This foolish movement 
for the time saved us. No sooner was Guada- 
rama's division obscured from view by their own 
dust than Marqriez again changed his course, 
pounding along as fast as the animals could 
gallop with the train, and the infantry run over 
the very ground by which Guadarama had ad- 
vanced, namely, back towards Apam, the retreat 
being covered as before, and it was two hours 
before the Commander of the Liberal cavalry, 
after waiting about a league down the road, found 



302 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

out how he had been outwitted, an d that there 
was nothing for him to cut off. 

The retreat was now up hill, which from our 
position, momentarily improving by occupying 
the higher ground, enabled us to keep Diaz in 
check until we reached the summit of a high 
plateau, overlooking Apisaco, to which there was 
only one practicable road, a species of defile, and 
we were enabled to take up a splendid position, 
and keep the enemy in check till darkness set in. 
A council of war was now called ; it was evident 
that we were, since the arrival of Guadarama, 
more than quadrupled by the enemy, in addition 
to his having such a very large proportion of 
cavalry, and if on the morrow he increased the 
number of horses to his rifled battery, which of 
course he would, there was no doubt but that he 
would be able to annihilate our little army. A 
night retreat was therefore decided upon, and 
after a couple of hours to rest and refresh the 
animals, we resumed our march, arriving at the 
hacienda of San Lorenza, four leagues from 
Apam, at daybreak. Skirmishing took place all 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 303 

along the road, but before we arrived the pursuit 
seemed, for the time being, to have ceased. A 
halt was now absolutely indispensable, as, in 
addition to the troops being completely worn out 
with hard marching and their long fast, for none 
of us had tasted anything since the action of the 
previous morning, the horses and animals were 
completely knocked up. Of course, the only 
object now in view was to make good our retreat 
to Mexico, as, should we by any means be cut off 
from the capital, a death blow to the Empire 
would be the result. Here, therefore, we remained 
during the day ; plenty of forage was luckily ob- 
tainable, though little could be procured in the 
shape of human food. However, frijoles, tor- 
tellas, and pulche were to be had, and with these 
we were obliged to be satisfied, and thankful to 
obtain even them. Cavalry scouting parties were 
kept out in every direction to give notice of the 
approach of the enemy, and at aboat four p.m. 
they came galloping in with the intelligence that 
they were within two leagues, and the cavalry 
preceding them at full gallop. Little time 
sufficed to form the order of march ; fortunately, 



304 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

the enemy could only approacli by one side, while 
the other was left open for our retreat. The train 
and infantry were on the road in fifteen minutes, 
leaving us, the cavalry and the lightest of the 
field batteries, to cover their retreat. 

On came Guadarama, with his splendid body 
of horse, until within a few hundred yards of 
the walls by which the hacienda was surrounded, 
when, seeing a barricade in front of the gateway, 
and the battery unlimbered, they suddenly came 
to a halt. A well directed round from the latter 
soon made them retire out of range, where they 
were kept until the column was several leagues 
on the road. At last, Col. de Kodolitch, com- 
manding the whole of the Austrian cavalry, an 
oflScer devoted to the EmpSror's cause, and who 
had greatly distinguished hfmself during the 
whole campaign, gave the order to limber up 
and retire ; and our little force, mustering now 
scarcely 600 sabres, trotted in perfect order out 
of the hacienda, by one gate, just as the head of 
Guadarama's column, now reinforced by the 
rifled battery, entered by the other, having 
stormed with great gallantry our deserted 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 305> 

barricade. The officer commanding our artillery, 
a Prussian, who had long resided in Mexico, and 
had in fact, once served in the Liberal army 
when Juarez was president, could not resist the 
temptation of unlimbering just at the gate, and 
giving them one more round, across the hacienda 
square, a distance of some 500 yards, which,, 
though not expected at the time, served 
materially to favour our retreat, as it mowed 
down their leading squadrons terribly, and 
caused them a great delay from the confusion 
which ensued; while we, with the artillery, 
which was splendidly horsed, were at a hard 
gallop along the direct road to Otumba, leaving 
Apam on our ^g|lt. Of course the enemy were 
soon in full pursuity- -bringing their rifled guns 
now, with the number of horses doubled, along 
with them ; however, we gained the summit of a 
hill, from which we again opened fire with good 
effect, which was hotly answered, but alas ! for 
placing fine weapons in the hands of ignorant 
Indians, the rifled cannon proved our salvation, 
the balls passing high over our heads and striking 
the opposite hill ; the fact was the Liberal gunners 



306 MEXICO UNDER 

were totally ignorant of the proper method of 
sighting these weapons, and thus fired at just 
double the proper elevation. Thus we continued, 
disputing the ground, from, hill to hill, till we 
reached the neighbourhood of Otumba, occasion- 
ally charging the leading squadrons of the Liberal 
cavalry, to enable our battery to limber up and 
retire, which, be it remembered, is not done by 
Mexicans with the same celerity as my readers 
may have witnessed at a field day of the Royal 
Horse Artillery in England. At Otumba, we 
rejoined the column, the pursuit for the present 
having ceased, no doubt to enable Diaz, with his 
infantry, to come up. Here we were electrified 
by the intelligence that the Calzada, separating 
the two lakes at San Christobal, had been cut, 
thus forming one entire sheet of water, and our 
retreat by that route, the only thoroughly practic- 
able one, was consequently cut off. This was a 
terrible blow, but there was nothing for it but to 
endeavour to get round by Tescoco, going round 
instead of across that lake ; and here, as by this 
time all the forces investing Mexico were trying 
to prevent Marquez's retreat, we were pretty 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 307 

sure to be harassed during the whole march, on 
our flanks as well as in our rear. A few hours 
rest, and we V7ere again off at two in the morning 
in the same order as before, Marquez with the 
Mexican cavalry in front, infantry and artillery, 
waggon trains, &c., in the centre, Huzares 
Colorados, and Gendarmeria, not forgetting our 
little light battery, bringing up the rear. All went 
well until a bridge was reached, crossing a deep 
baranca, or ravine, near where the road branched 
off toTescoco; Marquez and all the superior 
Mexican officers, who all rode with the General 
(a bad Mexican custom, instead of being in 
their places with their own commands), had 
already crossed, also a portion of the infantry, 
and guns, and the whole of the Mexican cavalry, 
when, fearful to behold, the bridge, which was 
covered with carts and waggons, gave way, pre- 
cipitating the whole, with a thundering crash, 
amidst the curses of men, the cries of women, 
the groan of horses and mules, and the rattle of 
the breaking waggons, into the ravine below. 
At the same moment clouds of dust appeared in 
front, and cries of " the enemy are upon us," re- 



308 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

sounded on all sides. All was now confusion, 
the General's trumpeter, in his fright, sounded 
an attack in rear instead of in front, troops were 
hurrying in the wrong direction, and running 
against one another, and a general disorder 
prevailed. 

In the midst of this, Guadarama's cavalry 
appeared, charging down upon us from the 
neighbouring hill behind. It was now that the 
Lieutenant- General of the Empire, the man who 
had always been considered the prop and stay of 
the Emperor's cause, whose activity as a general 
was the talk of everyone, showed himself in his 
true colours. Cruel, unscrupulous and blood- 
thirsty, we all knew him to be, but we never 
had imagined him a coward , still less the base, 
unmitigated cur, he now proved himself. Turn- 
ing to the officers round him, he exclaimed 
" Caramha (my God) they are upon us, Yar- 
minos ; let us go," and accompanied by all his 
generals and senior Mexican officers, and cavalry, 
he set ofi at full speed on the Tescoco road, en 
route for the capital, where, harassed all the way 
by the enemy's pursuing cavalry, flying like a 



MEXICO UNDEE MAXIMILIAI^. 309 

fox from the hounds, he arrived during the night 
accompanied by scarcely fifty horsemen, chiefly 
cflScers, having abandoned the whole of his in- 
fantry, guns, baggage-train, money, and foreign 
troops, to the tender mercies of the enemy. 
For some minutes we could hardly believe that 
such was the case, or rally from our astonish- 
ment, but it was soon too evident. CoL de Kod- 
olitch now displayed the excellent qualities of a 
brave and clever officer, for which he was so 
justly celebrated. Instantly assuming the com- 
mand, he, by his noble example, and unremit- 
ting exertions, succeeded in rallying the troops, 
in which he was nobly aided by the young Count 
KevenhuUer, the colonel of the Huzares Colo- 
rados, and also by Count Yickenburgh, colonel- 
in-chief of my own corps, the Gendarmeria ; a 
cloud of skirmishers covered by the light battery 
and the Gendarmeria were thrown out to keep 
Guadarama in check, and meanwhile, as it was 
now impossible to take the heavy guns, or bag- 
gage-train any further, on account of the break- 
ing of the bridge; the whole were rolled over 
the edge into the precipice below, and never 



310 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

shall I forget the grandeur of the scene as they 
went tumbling down the rocks, falling with a 
fearful crash into a thousand pieces at the bot- 
tom. The money also had to be left, as no one 
could be found in the confusion who could point 
out in which waggons it was packed, all the mu- 
leteers, waggoners, «&c., having bolted. This 
work of destruction being effected, the infantry 
were moved off across country, over hills, and 
down valleys, towards Tescoco, an immense 
detour having to be made in order to find a 
practicable spot for crossing the ravine ; they 
were eventually joined by those on the other side, 
while the whole retreat was as before covered by 
the foreign cavalry and light mountain guns, 
which, notwithstanding all obstacles our ener- 
getic . Prussian artillery colonel managed to 
bring along. The fighting, however, was des- 
perate, and the slaughter terrible, as Diaz had 
now come up, and our little force was retreating 
before a well-equipped army of more than six 
times their number, and though unimpeded by 
baggage and having nothing but themselves and 
arms to carry, neither infantry nor cavalry could 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAK. 311 

move quickly, from the nature of the ground 
over whicli they were passing. Meanwhile, bat- 
talion after battalion of the enemy were attack- 
ing us in flanks and rear, pouring down a gal- 
ling fire upon us the whole time, and each mo- 
ment they were bringing more artillery into po- 
sition to bear upon us. As for our cavalry, they 
had to be charging the enemy's the whole time 
to prevent their outflanking the infantry. 

To say that the retreat was in perfect order 
would be absurd ; often it was a hard run, and 
but for the exertions of Kodolitch, Kevenhuller, 
and many other Austrian officers, all of whom 
behaved splendidly, it would have been a com- 
plete rout. However, we managed to continue 
steadily on, though mowed down terribly the 
whole way by the enemy's fije, without being 
flanked, until night — never more ardently longed 
for — at length put an end to the contest to a 
great degree, and continuing our march, we 
reached the capital next morning with just one 
third the number that Marquez had deserted the 
day before, the rest being all either killed or 



312 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAl?;. 

wounded ; the latter, unfortunately, it was im- 
possible to bring. 

Chafing under his defeat like a baffled tiger, and 
mad with conscious shame, the first thing Marquez 
did on his arrival was to seek out a victim 
on whom to vent his spleen. A communication 
was made to him, with what truth I cannot say, 
that General Ohoran, the Prefect of the City, 
was in secret correspondence with Diaz, and had 
ofi'ered to deliver up the city and Marquez him- 
self on condition of a guarantee for his own life 
and liberty. 

Sending for him immediately, the Lieutenant- 
General, without any enquiry, or even the for- 
mality of a trial, after abusing him to his heart's 
content, ordered his immediate execution, and in 
less than half an hour the wretched old man was 
shot by a file of soldiers. New loans, double in 
number to the first one, were at once demanded, 
and all who demurred, or even could not pay, were 
at once cast into a dungeon, kept without food, 
and told that after the second day if the money was 
not raised they would be shot. Two masons who 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 313 

had been employed by Marquez to construct a 
secret subterranean passage in his house, as a 
means of escape should it become necessary, and 
who had been promised a large reward, were said 
to have been privately put to death by his orders, 
instead of being paid ; on the principle^ I sup- 
pose, that " dead men tell no tales," as they were 
never seen again. They had been prisoners in 
the house during the whole period their job lasted. 
A meeting of foreign officers now took place, 
at which we all unanimously decided that we 
would no longer serve under or obey the orders 
of the Lieutenant- General Marquez, his base 
cowardice in deserting his command at San 
Chris tobal, in consequence of which two-thirds of 
our respecive regiments were lost, and the crimes 
daily perpetrated by him, fully justifying us in 
this proceeding. We therefore entirely threw off 
acknowledgement of the Mexican army or Mexi- 
can authorities, and formed ourselves into an in- 
dependent body, deciding to wait the issue of 
events, ready to serve his Majesty the Emperor 
the moment an opportunity should occur, and to de- 
fend ourselves against all comers. This was officially 



314 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

communicated to the Lieutenant- General, and, as 
may be imagined, his fury knew no bounds. His 
first impulse was to arrest us all, and haveussum- 
marilary shot, but that was more easily said than 
done. Our men were well organized, and on the re- 
ceipt of the intelligence of his order the whole force 
was drawn up in line of battle in front of their 
quarters, quite prepared to show fight if neces- 
sary, a glance at which showed this noble hero 
that prudence would be the better part of valour? 
feeling no doubt very doubtful if, with his whole 
garrison of Mexican troops, he could make a suc- 
cessful attack upon us. 

" Let them be," he said, " we can do equally 
well without them." 

Subscriptions were raised to provide subsist- 
ence for the men, and to his everlasting praise 
be it said, Kevenhuller, who was fortunately a 
very rich man, paid his entire regiment during 
the time out of his own pocket, being accommo- 
dated with the necessary ready money by Mr. 
Nathaniel Davidson, the nephew and agent of the 
house of Rothschild. 

Diaz having now all his heavy siege train in 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAK. 315 

position, commenced a thundering bombardment 
of the city, which he kept up daily ; every avenue 
was completely barred, so that nothing but a large 
armed force could possibly effect an exit. 

The aqueduct which supplied the city with 
water was cut off, leaving nothing but the Artesian 
Wells for the use of the entire population, and 
horses, mules, dogs, and cats were the principal 
staples of consumption. The siege progressed, as 
everything undertaken by Mexicans always does ; 
a desultory fire from the skirmishers on both sides, 
in which sharpshooters were perpetually trying 
their skill, very rarely doing more damage than 
knocking a piece of brick from the wall of a 
house, or tearing the branches of the shrubs lying 
within their range. 

Few casualties occurred on either side from the 
firing, except at the hours when Diaz was treat- 
ing us to a little bombardment, and even then they 
were less than might have been expected, and but 
for the constant tramp of cavalry patrolling the 
streets with drawn sabres, an observer might have 
been impressed with the belief that nature had 
sunk to rest. The famine was daily making rapid 

p 2 



316 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

strides, and the number of deaths from starvation 
was frightful. It not having been anticipated by 
the merchants that any very prolonged siege 
would ever take place, the laying in of large 
stocks of provisions had been neglected, in fact 
the majority of the people thought that the city 
having no natural strength of position, and the 
only fortifications consisting of a few hastily 
thrown up earth works, the Liberals, from their 
overwhelmiog numbers, now upwards of 40,000 
men before the place, would literally have walked 
in. When, however, every avenue of ingress and 
egress became closed, and it was suddenly an- 
nounced that the supplies in the place amounted 
to comparatively nothing, there was a perfect 
rush for every article of food, especially corn, 
rice, and beans, which constitute the principal 
staples of consumption of the poorer classes. 

In an incredibly short space of time the whole 
stock of provisions, in so far as was known to be 
in the place, was in the hands of consumers, thus 
completely depriving at least one half the people 
of the possibility of obtaining even articles of 
first necessity. At least two-thirds of the popu- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 317 

lafcion of Mexico live, to use a vulgar expression, 
" from hand to mouth," each day managing to 
obtain from some source or other a few reals to 
supply their immediate wants, and like the lilies 
of the field *^ taking no thought for the morrow," 
and upon them the failure of supplies fell with 
crushing force. 

Each morning an immense crowd gathered 
round the doors of the bakeries which still re- 
mained opeD, many having taken their places as 
early as one a.m, hoping thereby to secure a front 
position, and thus ensure a supply of bread for 
their starving families. Squads of soldiers 
guarded the doors, which were also barricaded, a 
small trap door, like that at a railway ticket office, 
through which the precious article was passed, 
being alone kept open. At nine a.m. the distri- 
bution of the bread began, each person receiving 
one small loaf, as long as the supply lasted, on 
payment of a dollar, when a scene of the wildest 
excitement would take place, men, women, and 
children making a simultaneous rush towards the 
door, and raising their baskets over their heads 



318 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

or extending their arms at full length, would 
fairly scream with excitement for fear the supply- 
should be exhausted before they were served. 
Hundreds, after waiting for hours, would see the 
last loaf disappear and the door closed, and with 
smothered curses return empty handed to their 
starving households. 

Beef of the poorest quality retailed at a dollar 
and a half a pound, horse and mule flesh at half 
a dollar, flour a dollar, and these, with the excep- 
tion of horse and mule flesh, for which there 
were government shops, could only be had 
through the influence of friends. Dogs and cats 
were temptingly exposed for sale, trussed for 
cooking, and eagerly bought by many. How my 
poor wife and many other ladies would have done 
I cannot even now picture to myself, had not 
some of us occasionally managed by foraging 
with the advanced pickets, under a heavy fire, to 
buy some little articles of consumption from a 
stray Indian, such as a fowl, young pig, beans, 
potatoes, &c., &c. ; but it was only rarely this 
could be efi'ected, and then at extortionate prices. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 319 

I have given as much as fifteen dollars for a loaf 
of bread during the latter portion of the siege, 
rather than let her go without it. 

In the meantime, an order was issued by 
General Tabera, regulating prices, and directing 
all persons having any stock of provisions to 
make report of the same to the Mayor of the 
City within twenty-four hours, on pain of having 
the whole confiscated. This was scarcely heeded, 
and only warned those who had any to hide them 
more securely. There were, however, a few ex- 
ceptions, who at once responded to the command, 
and whose stock was instantly placed on sale. 
Large crowds were of course attracted, and simi- 
lar scenes to those described above were enacted. 
Two days sufficed to dispose of the small quan- 
tity thus procured, and not another ounce of 
food was known to be on sale in the City. 

Some deposits of produce were just at this 
time discovered by the police, which were imme- 
diately seized and taken to the custom-house, 
from whence they were gratuitously distributed 
to the poor. 

Fearful acts of cruelty were prepetrated during 



320 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

the distribution, both by the soldiery and people, 
which turned one's blood cold. 

Whilst the gratuitous distribution above re- 
ferred to was going on, a miserable woman, 
whose emaciated condition betokened her suffer- 
ings, attempted to crowd her way to the doors of 
the building, and was rudely pushed back by 
one of the guards, who struck her in the face 
with his fist. Goaded to desperation, by hunger 
and the blow combined, she grappled with her 
persecutor, and being assisted by several of the 
crowd, bore him to the ground, where he was 
quickly despatched and his body trampled to 
pieces by the mob. Another soldier, in forcing 
back the immense crowd assailing the doors, 
struck a woman with his sword, badly cutting 
her arm, and laying open the head of an infant 
which she carried, killing it on the spot, and the 
next moment he was pierced by a dozen knives, 
and fell lifeless to the earth. A report obtained 
currency that a large quantity of grain was 
stored in one of the theatres, which would be 
disposed of next day. A crowd was of course in 
attendance ; the hour passed when the distribu- 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 321 

tion was to have taken place, when becoming 
impatient at the delay, the crowd forced an en- 
trance and rushed in, ransacking the fine build- 
ing, destroying furniture, scenery, &c., in their 
vexation and disappointment at finding that 
nothing of the sort existed. Their rage knew 
no bounds, and cries of " Down with Marquez," 
" Death to the tyrant,'^ resounded. Bat the 
scene only served to illustrate Mexican cowardice ; 
General Tabera, with a small escort, was seen 
approaching, when the utmost quiet and order 
immediately prevailed. 

Matters had gone on thus until the 31st May, 
when in order to partially relieve the starving 
condition of the people, an edict was issued that 
all persons desirous of quitting the City might 
do so, for which purpose a flag of truce would be 
obtained, this permission to extend to three 
days. Over 3,000 persons were soon en route^ 
chiefly of the poorer classes, to whom moving 
house was a small affair, and being permitted to 
pass the Liberal lines, were soon en route for the 
villages in rear. The next day the press to get 

out was immense; rich and poor, on horseback, 

p 5 



322 MEXICO TJNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

on foot, in carriages, carts, and every description 
of vehicle, while strings of waggons, containing 
furniture and other effects, crowded the road. 
They were permitted to pass the first lines, and 
even the second, until arrived at Chapultapec, 
where they were stopped until the Liberal 
General's permission to proceed was granted. 
After the whole procession had been kept wait- 
ing the greater part of the day, an order arrived 
for them to return, and refusing to permit any- 
one from the City to enter the Liberal lines in 
future. This was the most cruel scene of the 
war, and reflects greatly on Diaz. Surely, starv- 
ing mothers and children, and ruined fathers, 
many of whom were staunch Liberals at heart, 
might have moved his compassion. In civilized 
warfare it has always been customary to permit 
non-combatants to leave a besieged city, especially 
one being daily bombarded. 

On the 5th June the intelligence of the Em- 
peror's capture and the fall of Queretero reached 
us, and the only thing left to do seemed to be to 
endeavour to obtain terms for his Majesty, in 
consideration of the immediate surrender of the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 323 

place. Padre Fischer, the Emperor's confessor, 
and several others, undertook to be the envoys, 
though little hope existed of their success, as the 
Princess Salm Salm had, on a previous occasion, 
been the bearer of a flag of truce to Diaz, accom- 
panied by some of the principal ladies of the 
place, to ofler to induce Maximilian to abdicate, 
if his life were guaranteed and those of his fol- 
lowers, by representing to him the atate of the 
capital. This Diaz had refused to listen to. The 
flag of truce, with Padre Fischer, however 
started, the ofPer made being the immediate sur- 
render of the city, on condition that the Emperor's 
life, and those of his officers, were guaranteed, 
and a free permit for the foreign troops to leave 
the country. Diaz's answer was, that he would 
grant the required terms, only excepting the 
Emperor, over whose destiny he had no control, 
and Marquez, Quiroga, and Yidaurri, whose 
lives he would not guarantee. It is needless 
to say that these terms were not acceded to. 

Things got worse and worse as each day 
advanced. Bread had long ago ceased ; with our 



S24 MEXICO UNDEK MAXIMILIAN. 

coffee in the morning we indulged in the luxury 
of a kind of biscuit, made of starch, this being 
the only food, not animal, obtainable, except 
sometimes a few frijoles, as a great luxury. The 
deaths in the city, from starvation alone, ex- 
ceeded fifty daily, while those from disease, espe- 
cially typhus, produced by the sole use of bad 
animal food, and the scarcity and inferior quality 
of the water, far exceeded that number. The 
cowardice of the Liberal general, who, with 
upwards of sixty thousand men, and a splendid 
siege train, refused to storm a city with literally 
no defences, and garrisoned by only some eight 
thousand odd troops was unheard of ; but Eseo- 
bedo's policy of making war only on the larder 
seemed fashionable. 

One morning a dead mule was discovered 
hung up just outside the Garrita de San Cosme, 
with a large placard fastened to it — 

" Carne Paka LOS Traidokes." 
(Meat for the traitors.) 

This was shortly answered by some of the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 325 

Imperial Mexican soldiers, by stringing up an 
old woman, who had that morning died of starv- 
ation, with a placard on her breast — 

** Carne Para los Cobaedes." 
(Meat for the Cowards.) 

On the 10th June Marquez and Quiroga, at 
the head of a force of i^Ye thousand infantry and 
cavalry, made a reconnaissance in the direction of 
Santa Anita, for the purpose of drawing out the 
strength of the Liberal commander, and of 
obtaining supplies, if possible. At first a spirited 
attack was made, driving the enemy from their 
lines in great disorder, but the latter, being 
quickly and largely reinforced, the Imperialists, 
after sustaining the fight for two hours, were 
driven back within the city, leaving two hundred 
killed behind them, besides upwards of three 
hundred wounded. Several horses were also 
lost, and unfortunately a very insignificant 
amount of forage gained. The Liberal loss, 
however, must have been very heavy, though the 
precise amount could not be ascertained. 

On the 19th of June the sad news arrived, by 



326 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

telegraph from Queretero (being forwarded to the 
city through the Liberal lines) of the fearful 
tragedy which had just taken place there, and 
that there was no longer an Empire or an Em- 
peror to fight for. Further resistance seemed 
now not only useless but wicked, and unneces- 
sarily prolonging famine and disease to half a 
million wretched citizens. Representations to 
this effect were made from all quarters to Mar- 
quez, who seemed thoroughly tamed. 

To the astonishment of everyone he at once 
voluntarily resigned his powers of Lugarteniente, 
or Deputy, of the Empire, and delivered over 
the command of the city and troops to General 
Ramon Tabera. This action was a matter of 
general wonder, as he had always been the last to 
give up, and had been the most tenacious of all the 
supporters of the cause. With his assumption of 
the command Tabera called a Council of War, 
and proposed the idea of surrender, in which he 
was heartily joined by several, though others 
voted continuing the defence, having little faith 
in the safety of their necks when once in the 
power of the Liberals. Reason, however, at 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 327 

length prevailed, and at four p.m. an officer was 
despatched to Diaz's hea I quarters, with instruc- 
tions to obtain twenty-four hours' armistice. This 
was done, and white flags were soon flying from 
all the fortifications, and hostilities for the time 
being ceased. General Diaz acquiesced in the 
proposition for a conference, and named General 
Tabera as the person with whom he would prefer 
to hold a consultation on the following morning. 

At seven a,m. next day General Tabera, 
accompanied by the principal officers of the gar- 
rison (Marquez excepted), including several of us 
foreigners, left the city and proceeded by the 
^' Passeo de Maximiliano " to the fortifications 
crowning it, some four hundred and fifty yards 
from the city limits, from which point Tabera 
went on alone, in conformity with the request of 
the Liberal commander, and taking a carnage 
placed at his disposal, he was at once conveyed to 
Chapultapec, the place appointed for the inter- 
view. 

This lasted about two hours, when he returned 
to the lines, joining us, and going at once to 
head quarters. Another Council was summoned, 



328 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN, 

and the terms Diaz offered, unconditional sur- 
render, were announced. These, after a few 
moments' consultation, were rejected, though 
Tabera strongly advocated giving up the place. 

The armistice expired by limit at five p.m., and 
immediately after the Council adjourned. In 
ten minutes the white flags were replaced by the 
red, white, and green, and the heaviest fire to 
which the city had yet been subjected was opened 
upon it. The shells were tearing through the air 
and bursting in all parts of the town, while round 
shot and bullets literally rained down. The 
large crowds which had assembled along the 
western side of the city rushed panic stricken 
away. All the general officers were hastily sum- 
moned again to Tabera's head quarters, when it 
was at length decided to surrender at discretion, 
as it had been ascertained that not three rounds 
per man of any kind of ammunition remained in 
the magazine. A flag of truce was again sent to 
the enemy's lines, asking for the appointment by 
Diaz of officers to regulate tbe terms of capitula- 
tion, who would meet those designated by General 
Tabera, and together complete the negociations 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 329 

during the night. This being agreed to, quiet 
once more reigned. The European troops, taking 
up their quarters in the Imperial Palace, quietly- 
awaited what arrangements would be made 
respecting them, and fully determined to resist, 
if necessary, any attempt on their liberty, or that 
of their officers. 

During the night the following terms were 
agreed to by the delegates of the contending 
parties : — 

Terms of Capitulation. 

Article 1. — Hostilities shall immediately cease, 
and not be resumed, unless the ratification of 
this agreement fails of acceptation. 

Article 2. — The life, property, and liberty of 
the peaceful inhabitants of the capital shall be 
under the protection of General Porfirio Diaz. 

Article 3. — General Tabera shall nominate a 
commission of three persons, who will place the 
garrison at the disposition of General Diaz, as 
follows : — Some employe of the Department of 
the Treasury ; one person to hand over the troops, 
and another to deliver over the material of war.. 



330 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

An equal number of persons will be nominated by- 
General Diaz to receive the surrender of the 
above. 

Article 4. — The native Imperial troops shall be 
formed in order in their respective districts and 
march to the city arsenal, where they will remain 
until handed over ; the Contra guerrillas, under 
Genet (a French officer, formerly commandante 
in the Gendarmeria), shall concentrate in San 
Pablo and San Pedro, and the foreign troops 
shall remain in the palace. 

Article 5. — The commanding generals, chiefs, 
and officers shall retain their swords, and present 
themselves in such places as shall be named 
hereafter. 

The ratification of the terms took place at 
the castle of Chapultapec on the follow- 
ing morning by the signature of Generals 
Ramon Tabera and Porfirio Diaz. At six a.m., 
General Diaz entered the city at the head of six 
thousand troops, taking his way at once to the 
Grand Plaza. The troops entered the city in the 
most quiet and orderly manner, and on reaching 
the Plaza, were at once despatched to the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 331 

different parts of the city to take possession, and 
prevent any disturbances. Everything was done 
with the utmost order and precision. No out- 
rages were committed, nor any unlawful act per- 
formed by any of the troops. The conquering 
army was not, however, greeted with any marks 
of enthusiasm, such as would have been expected 
from the inhabitants of a city just released from 
a state of starvation, and all the horrors of a 
prolonged siege. 

Scarcely any but American flags could be seen ; 
not a cheer greeted the victorious General as he 
rode through the streets, nor did a single bell 
disturb the silence which prevailed, until some 
hours afterwards, when, by Diaz's orders, the 
Cathedral peal commenced_, which was imme- 
diately taken up by the other churches of the 
city, creating a din which could be heard far 
over the valley. 

Large crowds of Indians soon poured in, bring- 
ing all kinds of food, poultry, fruit, vegetables, 
&c., the people then commenced to leave their 
houses, and for the first time, for upwards of eighty 
days, Mexico began to put on her holiday garb. 



332 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Diaz had on a previous occasion been in com- 
munication with the ofiScer commanding the 
foreign troops, and was aware of the semi-neu- 
tral position they had occupied since the enormi- 
ties of Marquez ; in fact, he had offered to cover 
them with his guns, should they decide on cut- 
ting their way out of the city, and freeing them- 
selves from Marquez's presence, stipulating, 
however, that they should give up their arms to 
him, and proceed at once to the coast for em- 
barkation. 

This proposition could not, of course, at the 
time, be acceded to, as we were all bound, by 
every tie of honour as well as affection, to the 
Emperor, and as long as he remained in the 
country, and our assistance was likely to be of 
use to him, we could not think of deserting 
his cause, though refusing to obey his Lieutenant, 
who had so grossly abused the confidence reposed 
in him. Now our poor Emperor was no more, 
we were free to depart, and little doubt existed 
but that terms would be made with Diaz in fur- 
therance of that object. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 333 



CHAPTER XYI. 

At seven o'clock in the morning of tlie 19tli of 
June, 1867, the bell of the convent of La Capu- 
china commenced its solemn toll, being imme- 
diately taken up by those of all the other con- 
vents and churches in the city of Queretero, an- 
nouncing that one of the most savage and blood- 
thirsty state murders on record in the history of 
nations was about to be committed there. 

As early as six, the whole of the troops, under 
command of Eseobedo, were formed upon the 
Sierra de la Campana, a short distance from the 
city, the place appointed for the enactment of 
the bloody tragedy. The people of Queretero 
were flocking in thousands to the place to catch a 
last fond glance of the Emperor they loved so 
much, and undaunted by the frowns of the long- 
eared butcher, Eseobedo, by whose influence it 
had been brought about, or the presence of his 



534 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

soldiers, to offer a last tribute of their affection 
and respect. 

The Emperor had requested that he and his 
fellow sufferers, Miramon and Mejia, might be 
permitted to spend their last night on earth to- 
gether. His friend Prince Salm Salm had been 
removed to a dark dungeon, and the Princess 
forcibly put out of Queretero on the discovery of 
a plot, organised by the latter, for the escape of 
the prisoners, and no further interview had been 
permitted between them. His Majesty's request 
had been granted, and they had all occupied a 
large room in the old convent, which had served 
formerly as a hospital for the French troops. 
The room, which was spacious and comfortable, 
was on the ground floor, forming the principal 
hall of the building, and had been used by the 
French as the hospital dispensary. It had two 
windows, looking out on the Court-yard and 
gardens, and at one end an altar had been pre- 
pared. 

The sentinels had strict orders to fire on any- 
one who should attempt to pass without a special 
order from the captain of the guard. The Bishop 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 335 

of Queretero had offered his services, and being 
permitted to pass in they were gratefully ac- 
cepted by all three prisoners. Most of the night 
was passed in solemn conversation, and in pre- 
paring to meet their end. Miramon suffered a 
great deal from his wound in the eye, which he 
kept perpetually bathing in cold water during the 
latter part of the night ; Mejia slept soundly ; at 
about midnight, Maximilian asked for writing 
materials, which were obtained with some diffi- 
culty, owing to the lateness of the hour. He 
wrote two letters — one to the Archduchess 
Sophia, his mother, and the other to the Empress 
Carlo fcta, his wife, which latter I feel justified in 
repeating to my readers, as the contents have 
already been published by Eseobedo, who most in- 
decently opened it before permitting its trans- 
mission. It was as follows : — 

'^ My beloved Carlotta, 

" If God permit that your health be 
restored, and you should read these few lines, you 
will learn the cruelty with which Fate has 
stricken me since your departure for Europe. 



336 MEXICO TJNDEE MAXIMILIAN. 

You took with me not only my heart, but my 
good fortune. Why did I not give heed to your 
voice ? So many untoward events ! Alas ! so 
many sudden blows have shattered all my hopes, 
so that death is but a happy deliverance, not an 
agony to me. I shall die gloriously, like a 
soldier, like a monarch — vanquished, but not dis- 
honoured. If your sufferings are too great, and 
God shall call you soon to join me, I shall bless 
His Divine hand which has weighed so heavily 
upon us. 

" Adieu, adieu. 

'^ Your poor 

*^ Maximilian." 

Into this letter he placed a lock of his hair, 
which the wife of one of his guards had obtained 
his permission to cut off for him. On receiving 
it he kissed it; when placing it in the envelope, 
he sealed his letters, and gave them to the Bishop 
of Queretero, extorting a solemn promise from 
him to see, personally, that they were safely 
delivered. 

His Majesty then delivered to the same prelate 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 337 

his will, in which, after the disposition of the 
bulk of his property, legacies of a hundred thou- 
sand dollars (£20,000) each were left to the 
widows of Miramon and Mejia; all his old 
servants were remembered, including the Hun- 
garian cook, who has a pension of £100 per 
annum for life, and many of the foreign officers 
devoted to his cause. 

A letter was also attached to the document to 
his brother, the Emperor of Austria, conjuring 
him to take care of the noble few who had lost 
everything in his behalf. 

About four o'clock the Emperor wished mass 
to be said, which was done by the Bishop as soon 
as Mejia had been awakened to join in the 
service ; subsequently, all three received the Holy 
Communion. Afterwards the Emperor remained 
a long time, kneeling on the hard stones, with 
his eyes on the ground, and his head resting on 
his hands, in a pensive attitude ; — those present 
could not tell whether he was engaged in prayer, 
or only weeping. Miramon remained pale and 
downcast; Mejia seemed perfectly at his ease, 
displaying in a great degree his Indian stoicism — 

Q 



338 MEXICO UKDER MAXIMILIAN. 

he also considered it a. great honour to die with 
his Sovereign. 

As the bells commenced tolling, the captain of 
the guard entered the apartment, and the music 
of the solemn procession was heard approaching 
the convent. Respectfully saluting the Emperor, 
the Captain, Gonzales, informed his Majesty that 
the hour had arrived. The procession was immedi- 
ately formed outside the convent door. A squadron 
of Lancers led the way, followed by a band which 
played the "Dead March." A battalion of in- 
fantry formed two lines, each four deep, between 
which marched the condemned. When the pro- 
cession reached the main gate of the convent, 
Mejia cried out, *' Sire, for the last time, show 
us again the example of your noble courage ; we 
follow in the footsteps of your Majesty." Just at 
this moment the Franciscans were passing. The 
first two bore the cross and the holy water, the 
remainder carrying lighted tapers. Each of the 
three coffins was borne by four Indians, imme- 
diately behind which were three carriages for the 
accommodation of the prisoners, each preceded 
by a monk bearing a black cross. The Captain 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 339 

made a sign to the Emperor to take his seat in 
the foremost, which his Majesty did in a cheerful 
manner, turning to his companions in misfortune 
and saying, " Vamos a nuestra libertad." (Let 
us go to our freedom). The procession then 
wended its way through the streets of the town, 
and here a most distressing incident occurred, 
which nearly succeeded, not only in overcoming 
the feelings of his Majesty and his fellow officers, 
but of all present. The wife of Mejia, who had 
become raving mad since the condemnation of 
her husband, appeared rushing frantically through 
the streets, with her two younger children in her 
arms, and endeavoured to break through the bar- 
rier formed by the soldiers guarding the proces- 
sion, and she was with great difficulty forcibly, 
though kindly, carried away by some of the. 
soldiery. When the corUge had reached the top 
of the height of La Campana, Maximilian looked 
fixedly towards the rising sun, then drawing from 
his pocket his watch, touched a spring in it, and 
producing a miniature likeness of the Empress 
Carlotta, he pressed it to his lips, and then hand- 
ing it by the chain to the venerable bishop by his 



340 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

side, said *^ Carry this souvenir to my beloved 
wife, and should she ever he able to understand 
you, tell her that my eyes were closed with her 
likeness, which I will bear with me to heaven." 

A s they neared the place of execution, convul- 
sive sobs broke from the crowd, all, even the 
soldiery, appearing deeply affected ; and when at 
length the carriages stopped, and the condemned 
alighted, not a dry eye could have been found in 
the whole assemblage ; every head (the military 
excepted) was uncovered, and cries of weeping 
and commisseration resounded on all sides, at the 
same time tokens of the greatest dissatisfaction 
were manifested, and nothing but the strong 
military force prevented a rising of the people, 
and probably a rescue. 

. The Emperor, on alighting from his carriage, 
saluted the people in a dignified and graceful 
manner, and with an elastic step marched to the 
fatal spot. He then spoke a few words in a clear, 
firm voice, free from bravado, though he evidently 
felt his position deeply. He said that when he 
was first waited upon at Miramar, by a deputa- 
tion from Mexico which came with credentials. 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 341 

offering him the government of the country, he 
refused it. By a subsequent deputation the pro- 
position was again made to him, when he replied 
that if he could become convinced that a majority 
of the people of Mexico thought it was to their 
interest to place him at the head of the Govern- 
ment, that he might consent, but not otherwise. 
A few months later, a third deputation awaited 
upon him, and brought him additional testimo- 
nials. Upon taking the advice of the leading 
powers of Europe, he was told that he had no 
other course to pursue but to accept the call, 
which he at length did. He denied that the 
court which had tried him had the power to do 
so, as this was a case in which the good faith of 
the most powerful nations of the world was 
pledged. 

He had never performed an act which had not 
been for the good of Mexico, and he hoped that 
the spilling of his might stop the further effusion 
of blood in the country, though he feared it 
would not. 

Miramon spoke a few words only. His only 
regret, he said, at dying, was that the Liberals 

Q 3 



342 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

should still remain in power, and that his chil- 
dren would be pointed at as those of a traitor ; 
but he was no traitor. Mejia said nothing, but 
Indian-like, preserved an indifferent silence. 
The three black crosses and a small bench for 
each prisoner, were fixed against the wall, and 
the three firing platoons, each composed of five 
men, with a reserve of two under officers for the 
coup de grace, advanced to within three paces of 
the condemned. The Emperor now approached 
his two companions, and embraced them with 
touching earnestness. Miramon was so affected 
that he almost fell, and had to be supported by 
the Franciscans attending on him. Mejia re- 
turned the Emperor's embrace with great affec- 
tion, uttering some broken words which could 
not be distinguished, and then crossing his arms 
on his breast, stood up nobly to meet his doom. 
The Bishop, then advancing to Maximilian, said, 
'' Sire, in my person bestow upon Mexico the 
kiss of reconciliation; let your Majesty forgive 
all at this supreme moment." The Emperor, 
agitated to the utmost, allowed the good Bishop 
to embrace him, amidst the most profound 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 343 

silence, only the convulsive sobs from the crowd 
in the distance being audible. Then, suddenly 
raising his voice, he cried out, " Tell Lopez that 
I forgive him his treason ; tell all Mexico that I 
forgive her her crime." Taking out his pocket- 
handkerchief, he wiped the tears from his eyes, 
and turning to his faithful Hungarian servant, 
who had followed him from the prison door to 
this spot, he shook hands with him, and putting 
the handerkerchief into his hands, said, '' Give 
this to my poor dear mother." Clinging to his 
knees and sobbing convulsively, the poor Hun- 
garian covered his Majesty's feet with kisses, 
when the Emperor gently disengaged himself, 
moved forward to the sergeant of the firing party, 
and taking out a handful of gold, twenty dollar 
pieces, told him to divide it with his men, at the 
same time requesting that they would aim only 
at his heart. Then, turning to the officer in 
command (making use of the old Mexican term 
of politeness), said, with a sad smile, "A la 
disposicion de vsted, Senor," at your disposal, 
sir. 

The officer, with tears in his eyes, asked the 



344 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN, 

Emperor's forgiveness, adding that he could not 
help himself, that he had no choice but to obey 
orders. Gently rallying him, his Majesty re- 
plied, ^'No forgiveness is necessary; courage, 
my son — a soldier must always do his duty." 

When the officer gave the command to aim, 
Maximilian uttered the words ^^ Poor Carlotta," 
which were half drowned by the report of the 
muskets. Miramon rolled over dead on the spot. 
Mejia struggled a little, but a shot in the ear 
finished his pain. The Emperor fell over on the 
cross, which kept him from the ground ; he still 
breathed, when the corporal, placing the muzzle 
of his musket close to his heart, ended his 
earthly sufferings. 

Thus died Ferdinand Maximilian, of Haps- 
burg, a victim not only to the base treachery of 
the miserable wretch who sold his benefactor, or 
the bloodthirsty cruelty of a horde of half 
civilized Indians, but also to the mean and 
cowardly desertion of the nation that had in- 
volved him in his present difficulties, and there 
left him to combat them single-handed. 

Thus died the third Emperor Mexico ever knew, 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 345 

who during his short and stormy reign was uni- 
versally beloved and respected by all with whom 
he came in contact. Always charitable, generous 
and open-hearted to excess, the kindest of mas- 
ters, the most forgiving of enemies, and the most 
affectionate of friends, possessing the most amiable 
and unselfish disposition possible to conceive in 
man ; a brave soldier, a highly-bred gentleman, 
polite to all, and a sincere Christian. While 
bidding him a long farewell, the words of the poet 
come forcibly to my mind — " None knew him 
but to love him, nor mentioned but to praise." 



346 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 



CONCLUSION. 

Little more now remains to be told. With the 
memorable tragedy described in the last chapter 
ended the short history of the Mexican Empire. 

Favourable terms were soon made with Diaz 
after the occupation of the capital by that officer, 
by which all the Imperial European troops were 
permitted peaceably to march down to Vera 
Cruz, which city had been delivered up to the 
Liberal authorities on receipt of the news of the 
capitulation of the capital, the officers and others 
committed to the Imperial cause, and foreign 
troops stationed there, having embarked for the 
United States previous to the entry of the Liberal 
troops into the town, in accordance with the 
terms of capitulation. We, the officers of the 
foreign troops in the capital, were permitted to 
retain our arms, horses, &c. ; transport for both 
officers' and men's baggage was furnished by the 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 347 

Liberal authorities, and one dollar per day per 
officer, and two reals (one shilling Engiish) to each 
man, as subsistence money during the march. 
This being doubled by funds furnished by the 
different Embassies of the powers to which the 
men belonged, served to buy sufficient to live on 
till we embarked. Marquez could nowhere be 
found. Some supposed him to be hidden in the 
city, while others said (which was most probable) 
that he had escaped to the mountains during the 
excitement occasioned by the entry of the Liberal 
troops. Certain it is that he had upwards of a 
million dollars about his person at the time in 
European exchange, the fruits of his forced loans, 
and that he was never seen nor heard of 
since. The most probable conclusion to be drawn 
is that he managed to reach the coast and em- 
barked for some foreign country, to live for the 
remainder of his days on his ill-gotten gains. 

Maximilian's enemies made one of the main 
charges against him his celebrated decree of the 
3rd October, 1865, given much against his will 
at the repeated demands of Bazaine, which warned 
all lawless persons taken with arms in their hands 



348 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

after that date, that they would be summarily 
treated, but it must be remembered that at this 
time there was no existing Liberal Government, 
or any in the country, Juarez and his principal 
adherents having retreated, as was said, to Cali- 
fornia, and that this decree, which by the way 
was never enforced, was directed against the 
numbers of robber bands then, as now, infesting 
the country. 

The enormities committed by Marquez in the 
capital formed another charge laid to poor Maxi- 
milian's door, but the following letter from him 
to his Lieutenant-General, which was intercepted 
by Eseobedo, though carefully suppressed by him 
until after the trial and execution, shows toler- 
ably clear how far those acts were by his au- 
thority or consent. 

" Queretero, 

" May 3rd, 1867. 
" Senor General Marquez, 

'^ After having been for some 
time without any news from the capital, we have 
lust received at the same time, from different 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 349 

sources, information that embitters our feelings. 
It relates to occurrences which we could wish 
were never made public out of regard, at least, 
to the dignity of our throne. 

'' When you left here for the capital you were, 
in consideration of the offer which you had made, 
invested with ample powers to organise a respec- 
table division of men, which, with the pecuniary 
means that we needed, you were to bring to the 
relief of this place. But, contrary to your in- 
structions, you undertook a tardy and hesitating 
move which failed to be of aid to the besieged 
city of Paebla, and caused the loss of the only 
regular force you could muster, owing to the dis- 
order and unskilfulness of your retreat, which 
had all the appearance of a flight. 

" We prefer not to speak at present of the 
terror and panic that induced you then to treat 
with the Liberals for a conditional surrender of 
the capital ; we would wish, also, that we could 
pass over in silence the hatred you have aroused 
against the Empire by your use of vexatious and 
over cruel measures, which history will never ex- 
plain in a favourable sense to us. Such acts 



350 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

have produced their inevitable result. Not only 
is public opinion against us, but even our best 
friends, such as Generals Yidaurri, De la Portillo, 
Espejo, and others refuse to share in the respon- 
sibility of such misconduct. 

" And while at the capital all the interests of 
society are injured in the endeavour to extort 
pecuniary means that are squandered, leaving in 
the public mind the conviction that they are used 
for criminal purposes, the long suffering and 
heroic army that defends this place has to struggle 
with hunger and is short of powder, while all 
the projectiles yielded by the melting down of 
the church bells are spent. With such conduct 
the Empire must necessarily succumb, for in this 
age of the world only such political institutions 
as are of public benefit can stand. Bad ones fail 
sooner or later ; they can never survive. 

^^ Our own conscience, however, is easy, because 
we have spared no kind of sacrifice, and whatever 
was possible for us to do has not been left un- 
done. 

'' The unbounded confidence which we placed in 
the prominent men around us, and the use which 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 351 

each one has made of that trust shall be the data 
upon which history will found its judgment of 
our actions, and as for ourselves we decline any 
share in the responsibility attending any act what- 
ever of violence or wrong which we will neither 
authorise nor sanction. 

" Maximilian." 

The butcheries enacted at Puebla and Queretero 
were enacted at the capital, though not to so 
great an extent ; but the Plazuella de San Juan 
could tell many a bloody tale of unfortunate 
Mexican officers of the higher grades, and citizens 
who had held office under the Empire. The most 
disgustingly cruel of these wholesale butcheries 
was that of poor old General Yidaurri, than 
whom a better soldier or a kinder-hearted man 
never existed. He it was who did all that human 
power could do to alleviate the sufferings of the 
starving citizens during the siege. Diaz had 
issued a decree, like Eseobedo at Qaeretero, that 
all officers not surrendering themselves within 
twenty-four hours would be instantly shot when 



352 MEXICO UNDEE MAXIMILIAN. 

taken. Vidaurri had failed to comply with this 
order, and was after some days discovered con- 
cealed in the house of an American, named 
Wright, with whose family he was on terms of 
close friendship. The guard who were sent to 
arrest him found him in bed, when brutally strik- 
ing him about the head with the butts of their 
muskets, they made him dress, and then bound 
his arms behind him with a lasso so tightly 
that the blood spurted out of his wrists. Miss 
Wright implored his captors on her knees to for- 
bear from such cruelty ; but to no purpose. This 
was at midnight. He was marched off to the 
guard room and thrust into a cell till daybreak, 
his arms still pinioned as before. At four o'clock 
he was marched to a suburb of the city, where was 
a large open space, used as a receptacle for all 
the rubbish and offal, deposited there by the 
scavengers and others. 

His eyes were now blindfolded, and he was 
ordered to kneel down to receive his final doom. 
He did so, but the spot on which he knelt not 
being sufiSciently dirty to please his executioners^ 



MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 35S 

he was moved by them to another, when he was 
forced on his knees into the midst of a heap of 
the foulest filth they could find, and thus shot. 

I could mention many other instances of equal 
brutality, but I am sure my readers are already 
wearied with the recital of so many horrors, and 
I will, with their permission, bid Mexico and the 
Mexicans a long adieu. 

Our march to Vera Cruz had no incidents 
worthy of notice, the principal amusement con- 
sisting in the squabbles between the wives of 
some of the inferior officers, whose constant com- 
plaints, such as Madame This would have her 
large dog in the public carriage with her, and 
Madame That took up more than her fair share of 
room, &c., &c., afforded constant occupation to 
Colonel de Kodolitch, the commanding officer, in 
the capacity of peacemaker. My wife rode with 
me on horseback, as usual, and therefore was 
spared the infliction of these disagreeables. It 
was very sad, in our present condition, passing so 
many well-known spots where we had spent 
many a happy hour, and each of which was asso- 
ciated with some little reminiscence of the poor 



354 MEXICO UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Emperor or Empress. On arrival at Vera Cruz 
transports were already in waiting, which had 
been sent by the French and Austrian Govern- 
ments for such of their subjects as might belong 
to the Imperial service. Most of the foreign 
troops, and officers from Queretero, had already 
joined us, the rest were soon to follow ; and two 
days after our arrival at Vera Cruz we had all 
embarked, some direct for Europe, and others wa 
New York, among which latter I and my wife 
were included, and bid farewell to Mexico for 
ever. 



THE END. 



T. C. Newbt, 30, Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, London. 



In 2 Vols. Price 21s. 
(Second Edition.) 

THE MAEKED MAN. 

By FEANK TROLLOPE. 

"Jackson, tlie Irish man-servant— old Wilson, the housekeeper— ^ 
and the pert, faithful, little Cockney factotum at the cottage, are life- 
like sketches, the truth of which we acknowledge with the greatest 
pleasure, inasmuch as we believe that the true reason of much of the 
outcry against the character of domestic servants is to be found in 
the management, indifference, and selfishness of the persons who 
employ them." — Athenceum. 

'* By many degrees the best novel we have met with in the present 
season." — Bell's Messenger. 

"An exciting and amusing novel." — Morning Post. 

"It will be read with avidity." — Liverpool Albion. 

" It is not alone equal to any novels that have emanated from the 
pens of the clever family of the Trollopes, but is far superior to the 
great bulk of fictioas that have inundated the libraries of late. The 
character of Theodore Hook is so true to nature and to himself, that 
we can scarcely realise the fact that the racy humour, the brilliant 
witticisms and clever sayings, were not his own instead of Mr. 
Trollope's." — Brighton Examiner. 

"Mr. F. Trollope has, we think, achieved very eminent success." — 
&pectatoro 



IN THE PRESS (IN DECEMBER). 
In 3 Vols. Price 31s. 6d. 

FIRM IN THE STRUGGLE 

By EMMA PICKERING, 
Author of " Forsaking All Others." 



In 1 Vol. Demy 8vo. Price 12s. (witli Portrait). *^v 

RECOLLECTIONS C 

OF «r — ■ 

THE PUBLIC CAEEER AND PRIVATE LIFE 

OF THE LATE 

JOHN ADOLPHUS, 

The Eminent Barrister and Historian, 

WITH 
EXTEACTS FROM HIS DIAEIES. 

By his daughter, 
MRS. HENDERSON. 

" A lively, readable book." — Examiner. 

" Lovers of gossip will peruse it with satisfaction.' ' — Aihenoewm. 

"Plethoric of racy anecdote and witty sayings." — Liverpool 
Albion. 

" Full of racy humour and amusing chit-chat." — Bell's Messenger, 

** Few people will fail to be entertained by it." — Bury Post. 

"Adolphus had a ready wit. Many pleasant recollections are 
scattered throughout these pages." — Saturday Review. 



NEW NOYELS NOW READY. 
In 2 Vols. Price 21s. 

HUGH. 

By the Author of * * Annie Jennings." 



In 1 Vol. Price 10s. 6d. 

SISTEE MAETHA; 

A ROMANCE OF THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 



Post. 



In 3 Vols. Price 31s. 6d. 

EOBEET BLAXE OF EINGWOOD. 

A life-like tale, full of interest from beginning to end.—Daili/\ 



LRpJa^S 



^ 




006 635 420 9 



